BER  it  tie  r 

LIBRARY 

UNIVERSITY    OF 
CALIKXHM 


COFFEE  AND  INDIA-RUBBER 
CULTURE  IN  MEXICO 


PRECEDED  BY 

GEOGRAPHICAL  AND  STATISTICAL  NOTES 
ON  MEXICO 


BY 

MATIAS   ROMERO 


G.  P.  PUTNAM'S  SONS 

NEW  YORK  AND  LONDON 
3be  Knickerbocker 
1898 


COPYRIGHT,  1898 

BY 
MATIAS   ROMERO 


Ube  fmfcfcerbocfeer  flregs,  -flew  i)orft 


INTRODUCTION. 

When,  after  serving  five  years,  from  1868  to  1871,  as  Secretary  of 
the  Treasury  in  Mexico  under  President  Juarez's  administration,  I  was 
obliged  to  resign,  my  health  being  so  greatly  broken  down  as  to  make  it 
impossible  for  me  to  continue  discharging  the  duties  of  that  responsi- 
ble, and  at  the  time,  very  difficult  office,  feeling  that  if  I  remained  in 
the  City  of  Mexico,  I  could  not  regain  my  health  as  I  would  be  subject 
to  continual  mental  excitement,  I  made  up  my  mind  to  live  in  the 
country  and  occupy  my  time  in  agricultural  pursuits.  Before  deciding 
what  branch  of  agriculture  I  should  follow,  I  made  a  tour  of  inspec- 
tion to  the  most  favored  regions  of  Mexico  and  found  that  india-rub- 
ber and  coffee  raising  seemed  to  be  the  most  promising  and  profitable 
undertakings.1  The  place  which  I  thought  best  adapted  to  both  of 
these  products  was  the  district  of  Soconusco,  one  of  the  counties  of 

1  I  take  the  following  from  an  article  entitled  "  Settlement  of  the  Mexico-Guate- 
mala Boundary  Question,"  that  I  published  in  vol.  xxix.,  No.  2,  1897,  of  the  Bulletin- 
of  the  American  Geographical  Society,  of  New  York  : 

"  The  office  of  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  of  Mexico  was,  until  recently,  the  most 
difficult  of  administration,  because,  the  Federal  Treasury  being  in  a  state  of  chronic 
bankruptcy,  it  was  impossible  to  pay  on  demand  all  its  obligations,  and  the  Secretary- 
had  to  distribute  the  daily  receipts  in  the  best  way  he  could  ;  so  that  all  creditors  pre- 
sented their  claims  to  him,  thus  placing  in  his  hands  almost  all  the  details  of  that 
office,  which,  added  to  several  other  causes,  too  numerous  to  specify  here,  increased 
considerably  the  Secretary's  labors.  Therefore,  a  hard-working  and  conscientious 
man,  holding  that  office,  had  to  work  eighteen  hours  every  day,  as  long  as  he  was  able 
to  do  so,  and  that  at  a  place  nearly  8000  feet  above  the  level  of  the  sea,  where  the 
decreased  atmospheric  pressure  seriously  affects  the  nervous  system,  and  does  not  per- 
mit of  prolonged  and  constant  mental  labor. 

"  I  remember  that  the  Emperor  Napoleon,  believing,  during  the  French  interven- 
tion, and  while  Maximilian  was  in  Mexico,  that  there  was  no  Mexican  capable  of 
managing  the  finances  of  the  country,  sent  to  Mexico,  for  that  purpose,  two  French 
officials,  who  were  doubtless  expert  financiers,  and  who,  being  naturally  very  anxious 
to  please  Napoleon,  expecting  promotion  at  home  if  successful,  worked  very  hard  to 
satisfy  him,  with  the  result  that  after  a  few  months  one  of  them,  M.  Bonnefons,  re- 
turned home  very  sick  and  soon  afterward  died,  and  his  successor,  M.  Mantenant, 
returned  to  France  insane.  I  have  had  occasion  to  notice  that  even  young  and  strong 
men  suffer  severely  after  a  few  months  of  prolonged  mental  work,  from  what  Mexican. 


iv  Untrofcuction. 

the  State  of  Chiapas,  in  southeastern  Mexico,  bordering  on  Guatemala, 
and  I  concluded  to  settle  there  and  apply  myself  to  coffee  and  india- 
rubber  culture. 

In  the  meanwhile,  coffee  raising  had  attained  considerable  develop- 
ment in  Guatemala,  the  Guatemalan  coffee  being  very  highly  esteemed 
in  foreign  markets,  and  I  determined  to  make  a  tour  of  inspection  in 
Guatemala  and  examine  the  principal  coffee  plantations,  in  order  to 
learn  what  was  the  best  way  to  make  a  plantation  and  keep  it  produc- 
tive. I,  of  course,  tried,  during  this  time,  to  collect  all  the  information 
I  possibly  could  about  these  two  branches  of  agricultural  industry. 

Finally  I  undertook  to  make  a  coffee  plantation  in  the  high  lands  of 
Soconusco — located  from  four  to  five  thousand  feet  above  the  level  of 
the  sea— as,  in  my  opinion,  a  temperate  zone  is  the  proper  one  for  that 
tree  ;  and  another  for  india-rubber  in  the  lower  lands  of  the  district, 
which  are  warm,  damp  and  marshy.  I  acquired  some  experience  by 
these  experiments  and  I  made  a  study  of  the  subject,  not  only  in  coffee 
plantations  in  Mexico  and  Guatemala,  but  in  other  countries  where  I  un- 

doctors  call  brain  anaemia,  and  which,  if  the  patient  does  not  cease  working  or  leave 
the  city,  it  generally  has  an  early  and  fatal  termination. 

"  After  having  worked  very  hard  in  Washington  during  the  French  intervention 
in  Mexico,  from  1861  to  1867,  as  the  official  representative  of  my  country,  I  was  called 
by  President  Juarez,  on  my  return  home  on  the  i$th  of  January,  1868,  to  the  Treasury 
Department,  and  I  remained  in  that  office  up  to  June  10,  1872,  working  as  hard,  if 
not  harder  than  any  of  my  predecessors,  so  that  I  am  surprised  that  I  did  not  succumb 
to  the  severity  of  my  labors.  It  is  true  I  was  then  young,  and,  owing  to  my  regular 
habits,  I  was  physically  vigorous  ;  but  the  labor  imposed  upon  me  was  enough  to  kill 
anybody.  In  the  early  part  of  1872,  I  could  not  sleep,  nor  digest  and  assimilate  my 
food,  and  altogether  I  was  in  such  a  condition  that  a  few  months  more  of  such  work 
would  certainly  have  ended  my  life.  I  found  myself  under  the  necessity,  therefore, 
of  retiring  from  the  Cabinet,  which  I  did,  availing  myself  of  the  close  of  the  session 
of  the  Mexican  Congress,  especially  dedicated  to  approve  the  appropriations  for  the 
following  fiscal  year  and  to  vote  the  taxes  to  defray  them.  I  also  desired  to  afford 
President  Juarez  an  opportunity  to  appoint  new  men  to  his  Cabinet,  as  he  had  inau- 
gurated a  new  Presidential  term  on  the  ist  of  December",  1871,  and  it  was  customary 
to  make  on  such  occasions  a  total  or  partial  change  of  Cabinet. 

"  I  realized  that  to  restore  my  health  it  would  be  necessary  for  me  to  lead  for  some 
years  a  hygienic  life  and  to  avoid  excessive  mental  labor,  and  as  this  would  not  have 
been  possible  had  I  remained  in  the  City  of  Mexico,  I  made  up  my  mind  to  live  in  the 
country,  devoting  my  time  and  energies  to  agricultural  pursuits,  since,  having  no  for- 
tune, I  had  to  earn  my  living  by  my  own  work.  I  visited  several  desirable  places  in 
Mexico,  and  finally  decided  to  settle  in  a  place  quite  remote  from  the  Capital,  because 
I  did  not  desire  to  return  to  public  life,  for  which  I  had  never  had  any  inclination. 
I  selected  the  town  of  Tapachula,  the  county  seat  of  the  District  of  Soconusco,  in  the 
State  of  Chiapas,  adjoining  Guatemala,  located  on  the  Pacific  slope,  because  it  was 
one  of  fine  agricultural  resources  and  of  great  promise  ;  and,  early  in  1873,  I  settled 
there,  bought  some  public  land  and  started  a  coffee  plantation  in  the  high  lands,  and 
one  of  india-rubber  in  the  low  ones,  and  did  some  commercial  business,  buying  coffee 
for  export,  and  importing  agricultural  implements  and  commodities." 


flntrofcuction.  v 

derstood  coffee  raising  was  also  very  prosperous,  like  the  Island  of 
Ceylon,  in  the  East  Indies,  and  Brazil,  which  is  now  and  has  been  for 
many  years,  the  largest  producer  of  coffee  in  the  world. 

When  I  considered  that  I  had  mastered  the  subject  as  thoroughly 
as  I  could  without  having  any  technical  education  for  the  purpose, 
having  acquired  only  practical  information  and  accepted  such  prin- 
ciples as  my  common  sense  made  clear  to  me,  I  thought  that  I  would 
give  the  benefit  of  my  experience  to  other  people,  both  in  and  out  of 
Mexico,  who  might  desire  to  engage  in  this  industry.  I  wrote,  there- 
fore, a  little  manual  on  coffee  culture  on  the  southern  coast  of  the  State 
of  Chiapas.  The  knowledge  I  gained  in  making  a  plantation  allowed 
me  to  acquire  practical  experience  on  this  subject,  so  that  my  opinions 
there  expressed  are  well-grounded  and  perfectly  correct  so  far  as  the 
southern  coast  of  the  State  of  Chiapas  is  concerned.  In  each  locality, 
the  conditions  vary  according  to  the  position  of  the  mountains,  the  pre- 
vailing winds,  the  rainfall  and  other  circumstances  which  produce 
various  meteorological  phenomena  affecting  materially  the  climate  ;  it 
would  be  difficult,  therefore,  to  give  rules  in  detail  which  would  apply 
absolutely  to  all  localities,  as  what  is  desirable  in  one  may  be  very  ob- 
jectionable in  another  affected  by  different  climatological  conditions. 

For  that  reason,  I  confined  my  study  to  the  southern  district  of 
Chiapas,  which  I  knew  quite  well,  and  tried  to  verify  my  theories  by 
what  I  had  learned  of  coffee  planting  in  other  places,  and  especially 
in  Ceylon,  as  I  had  found  books  which  stated  in  a  very  clear  and  con- 
cise manner  the  system  prevailing  there  of  planting  coffee — information 
which  I  found  was  very  difficult  to  obtain  from  other  countries,  including 
even  Brazil.  I  published  in  Mexico  three  editions  of  my  manual,  cor- 
recting and  adding  to  each  new  one — the  last  one  being  published  in 
July,  1874.  There  was,  at  the  time,  no  interest  in  coffee  culture 
and  very  little  attention  was  therefore  paid  to  my  manual.  By  the 
advice  of  a  friend,  I  placed  in  a  bookstore  about  fifty  copies  on  sale, 
and  four  or  six  years  later,  only  two  or  three  had  been  sold. 

When  the  price  of  coffee  began  to  rise  considerably,  especially  af- 
ter 1890,  the  culture  of  coffee  received  a  great  impetus,  and  the  plan- 
tations were  very  much  extended,  the  price  became  very  lucrative,  as 
it  was  sold  at  the  plantation  as  high  as  35  cents  a  pound  in  silver  ;  that, 
of  course,  was  a  great  stimulus  to  increase  its  production.  However, 
during  the  year  1897  the  price  fell  considerably,  as  it  was  sold,  I  believe, 
at  12  cents  a  pound  in  silver  at  the  plantation,  that  being  still  a  remu- 
nerative price.  When  the  interest  in  coffee-raising  was  at  its  height  in 
Mexico,  the  Mexican  Government  made,  in  1893,  a  fourth  edition 
of  my  manual,  but  it  was  merely  a  republication  of  the  former  one, 
without  any  change  at  all.  Since  the  third  edition  of  that  book  was 
published,  a  great  deal  of  interest  has  been  awakened  in  the  culture  of 


vi  Introduction, 

coffee  and  I  have  received  innumerable  requests  for  copies  of  the 
manual  from  various  sections  of  Mexico,  and  also  from  young  men  in 
the  United  States  who,  having  heard  of  the  great  profits  of  coffee  rais- 
ing, are  disposed  to  undertake  coffee  planting  in  Mexico.  I  have 
therefore  concluded,  in  the  interest  of  that  industry  and  its  develop- 
ment in  Mexico,  to  publish  an  English  translation  of  my  manual. 

My  public  duties  for  the  last  eighteen  years  have  not  allowed  me 
much  time  to  make  new  studies  on  coffee  culture,  but  the  interest  I  take 
in  coffee  raising  has  made  me  read  all  that  came  in  my  way  on  the  sub- 
ject ;  and  I  also  made  in  1896  special  visits  to  the  new  coffee  districts 
in  the  State  of  Oaxaca,  Mexico,  to  study  their  conditions.  I  am  very 
sorry  that  I  have  not  the  time  indispensable  to  revise  this  edition,  and 
have  to  publish  it  as  it  came  out  in  Spanish,  several  years  ago.  To 
understand  it  well  the  reader  must  bear  in  mind  that  it  was  written  in 
Soconusco  County,  State  of  Chiapas,  nearly  a  quarter  of  a  century  ago. 

I  am  very  sorry  that  my  present  engagements  have  prevented  me 
from  revising  this  paper  up  to  date  ;  that  is,  changing  such  views  ex- 
pressed in  the  same  as  my  experience  has  taught  me  not  to  be  entirely 
correct,  at  least  in  so  far  as  other  regions  outside  of  the  southern  coast 
of  Chiapas  are  concerned,  as  that  would  require  more  time  than  I  can 
afford,  and  in  my  inability  to  do  that  work,  I  prefer  to  use  the  paper 
I  wrote  long  ago,  exactly  in  the  shape  in  which  it  then  came  out. 
Since  that  time,  all  circumstances  and  conditions  of  coffee  raising  have 
materially  changed.  The  price  of  land  has  increased  twenty  times,  as 
a  caballeria,  which  was  worth  $50  in  1874,  has  been  recently  sold  at 
$1000  ;  wages  have  gone  up  twice  or  three  times  higher  than  they  were 
then,  and  all  the  estimates  of  the  costs  and  expenses  to  be  approximate 
to  present  conditions  would  be  required  to  be  at  least  triple,  and  in  some 
cases  even  this  figure  would  not  represent  the  exact  cost.  Besides,  any 
mistake,  especially  in  the  selection  of  a  site  for  a  coffee  plantation,  may 
cause  very  serious  losses,  in  the  shape  of  increased  expenses  for  plant- 
ing and  keeping  it,  and  reduced  receipts  caused  by  small  crops. 

In  1893  and  1894  I  was  involuntarily  drawn  into  a  controversy  with 
an  American  gentleman,  who  advocated  the  low  lands  of  the  Isthmus 
of  Tehuantepec  as  the  best  suited  for  coffee  and  india-rubber  culture, 
and  in  that  correspondence  I  expressed  some  views  concerning  that 
subject  in  other  regions  than  the  southern  coast  of  Chiapas,  which  con- 
tained some  ideas  formed  since  the  book  was  written.  I  append  to 
this  paper  that  correspondence. 

When  I  settled  in  Soconusco  it  was  a  wild  county,  which  on  ac- 
count of  its  distance  from  the  capital  of  the  Republic,  its  isolation 
from  the  rest  of  the  State  of  Chiapas,  and  the  unsettled  condition 
which  often  prevailed  in  Mexico,  had  made  it  almost  an  independ- 
ent principality,  ruled  with  an  iron  hand  by  an  unscrupulous  and 


Untrofcuction.  vii 

irresponsible  local  chieftain,  who  had  been  able  to  overpower  all  oppo- 
sition. I  tried  to  obtain  his  support  for  the  development  of  the  country, 
and  he  seemed  to  give  it  to  me  cheerfully,  and  I  worked  earnestly  for 
the  purpose  of  establishing  the  supremacy  of  the  Federal  government 
and  the  Federal  laws  which  amply  guarantee  personal  and  property 
rights,  and  I  succeeded  in  having  Federal  troops  and  Federal  judges 
sent  there  for  that  purpose.  His  antagonists,  however,  availed  them- 
selves of  the  opportunity  of  his  losing  power  to  drive  him  out  of  the 
place,  and  he,  with  the  natural  suspicion  of  ignorant  men,  thought  I 
was  the  cause  of  his  overthrow,  and  that  I  had  been  working  for  it,  and 
decided  to  get  rid  of  me  at  any  cost.  Besides,  the  then  President  of 
Guatemala,  General  J.  Rufino  Barrios,  who  suspected  my  going  to  Soco- 
nusco  with  some  scheme  hostile  to  his  country  and  himself,1  assisted 
the  Soconusco  leader  against  me,  and  both  plotted  against  my  life,  but 
I  was  saved  in  an  almost  miraculous  manner.  My  coffee  plantation 
had  before,  and  while  I  was  making  it,  been  partially  destroyed  by 

1  The  following  extract  from  my  paper  on  the  "  Settlement  of  the  Mexico-Guate- 
mala Boundary  Question,"  just  quoted,  states  the  nature  of  my  relations  with  General 
Barrios,  the  President  of  Guatemala,  while  I  was  in  Soconusco : 

"Public  men  in  Guatemala  are  generally  very  suspicious,  and  especially  were 
they  so  when  Mexico  was  concerned,  and  when  they  saw  me  living  as  a  farmer  in  a 
very  humble  frontier  town  adjoining  their  country,  they  imagined  that  I  must  have 
some  hostile  designs  against  Guatemala,  and  that  my  farming  was  only  a  pretence  to 
cover  my  hidden  designs.  General  J.  Rufino  Barrios  became  President  very  soon  af- 
ter I  settled  in  Soconusco,  and  he,  as  well  as  most  of  the  persons  around  him,  thought 
that  I  had  gone  there  either  with  the  purpose  of  attempting  to  make  myself  dictator 
or  ruler  of  Guatemala,  or  to  work  for  the  annexation  of  that  country  to  Mexico,  which 
liad  been  for  some  time  the  great  bugbear  of  Guatemalan  statesmen.  Judging  by  what 
they  had  sometimes  seen  in  their  own  country,  they  imagined  that  a  man  who  had  been 
Secretary  of  the  Treasury  of  Mexico  for  five  years  was,  or  ought  to  be,  a  millionaire, 
and  consequently  they  thought  it  an  absurd  idea  that  he  should  try  to  earn  his  living 
by  honest  labor. 

"  Although  I  had  been  warned  of  this  danger,  I  did  not  at  the  time  fully  realize 
its  gravity,  because  I  did  not  know  how  suspicious  of  Mexico  and  how  hostile  to  her 
the  people  of  Guatemala  were,  and  I  tried  to  allay  their  fears  by  going  myself  to  the 
City  of  Guatemala  to  make  the  acquaintance  of  its  public  men  and  to  inform  them  of 
my  reasons  for  having  settled  in  Soconusco,  and  of  my  purposes  for  the  future  ;  but, 
judging  me  by  the  standard  of  their  own  views  and  principles,  as  it  is  natural  for  peo- 
ple to  do,  this  act  of  mine  probably  only  served  to  confirm  them  in  their  suspicions. 

"  General  Barrios  himself,  whom  I  met  in  the  City  of  Guatemala,  before  be- 
coming President,  treated  me  with  the  greatest  duplicity.  At  the  same  time  that 
he  pretended  to  be  a  friend  of  mine,  and  in  some  ways  acted  as  such,  probably  in 
order  the  better  to  deceive  me  by  inspiring  me  with  confidence  in  his  sincerity, 
— as  when  he  sent  me  his  power  of  attorney,  authorizing  me  to  draw  upon  his  funds 
in  bank  and  attend  to  his  private  affairs,  especially  to  a  farm  he  had  in  Soconusco, — 
he  actually  believed  me  to  be  his  rival,  and  therefore  his  worst  enemy,  and  he  did  all 
he  could  against  my  person  and  property,  but  always  in  an  underhand  manner,  so  as 
not  to  appear  personally  responsible." 


viii  Untrofcuctiou. 

neighboring  Guatemalan  Indians,  encouraged,  I  was  sure,  although  I 
could  not  prove  it,  by  President  Barrios,  under  the  plea  that  I  was 
making  it  in  Guatemalan  territory. 

My  sudden  departure  from  Soconusco  made  me  abandon  and  lose 
everything  I  had  there.  I,  therefore,  did  not  see  grown  the  trees  I  had 
planted,  but  they  grew  well  and  yielded  a  large  amount  of  fruit,  of 
which  a  relative  of  mine  availed  himself,  who  made  out  of  that  plan- 
tation a  large  fortune,  and  finally  bought  from  me  the  land  occupied 
by  the  plantation  at  about  the  price  of  land  there  when  the  purchase 
was  made. 

In  the  several  trips  of  inspection  which  I  made  in  Mexico,  I  was 
careful  to  study  coffee  culture  in  every  district  I  visited,  and  I  pub- 
lished in  the  newspapers  the  result  of  my  studies  in  the  shape  of 
articles  relating  to  each  district.  They  were  finally  reprinted  in  a 
book  on  the  State  of  Oaxaca,  which  I  published  in  Barcelona  in  1886. 
It  would  take  a  great  deal  of  space  to  publish  them  here,  and  they  do- 
not  contain,  so  far  as  rules  for  coffee  culture  are  concerned,  any  more 
information  than  appears  in  my  manual  on  the  subject. 

As  Mexico  is  so  little  known  in  the  United  States,  I  thought  it  con- 
venient for  the  benefit  of  the  readers  in  this  country  that  I  should  pre- 
cede my  manual  with  another  paper  on  "  Geographical  and  Statistical 
Notes  on  Mexico,"  which  I  have  just  published,  and  which  to  an 
American  reader  gives  more  recent  information  than  I  have  seen  col- 
lected in  any  single  book  in  the  English  language. 

WASHINGTON,  January  31,  1898.  M.  R. 

MONEY,    WEIGHTS   AND    MEASURES. 

Before  Mexico  adopted  the  metric  decimal  system  we  used  the  old 
Spanish  weights  and  measures. 

The  measures  used  in  this  book  are  those  in  vogue  in  Soconusca 
when  this  manual  was  written,  namely :  the  vara  as  a  unit  of  linear 
measure,  which  is  2.75  English  feet  or  about  33  inches  ;  and  for  land 
measure  the  Cuerda,  which  is  a  square  of  25  varas  on  each  side  or  625 
sq.  varas,  the  Caballeria,  which  has  609.408  varas  or  105}  acres  and 
the  square  league  which  is  a  square  of  5,000  varas  on  each  side  or 
25,000,000  sq.  varas  and  equal  to  4339.4  acres.  The  pounds  are  also 
the  Mexican  pounds  equal  to  1.014  English  pounds. 

The  Mexican  dollar  was  divided  into  eight  parts,  each  of  them 
called  a  real.  The  real,  which  was  12^  cents,  was  divided  into  two 
halves  called  medios,  and  each  media  was  divided  into  two  halves  called 
cuartillas,  and  each  cuartilla  was  divided  into  two  halves  called  octavos, 

In  Mexico  we  use  the  thermometer  with  the  Centigrade  scale,  and 
the  way  in  which  this  scale  can  be  reduced  to  the  Fahrenheit  scale 
used  in  this  country  is  well  known. 


CONTENTS. 

PAGE 

CONTENTS  OF  GEOGRAPHICAL  AND   STATISTICAL 

NOTES  ON  MEXICO i 

PART  I.     GEOGRAPHY    ....        3 

Location,  Boundaries  and  Area 5  , 

Location 5 

Boundary  with  the  United  States 5 

Boundary  with  Guatemala ,6 

Boundary  with  Belize    .         .         .         .         .         .         r.       *         6 

Cession  of  Mexican  Territory  to  the  United  States      .     ,...'.      .         7  « 

General  Characteristics 8  » 

Geology         .  .         .         .         .         .        .        .  •       12 

Mining .         . .13 

Silver 13 

Real  del  Monte  Company .15 

New  Mines,  Topia 17 

Li  Hung  Chang  and  the  Mexican  Silver  Mines     .        .         .18 

Gold       .         .         . 19 

Coinage  of  the  Precious  Metals 21 

Coinage  of  Mexico  from  the  Establishment  of  the  Mints 

in  1537  to  the  End  of  the  Fiscal  Year  1896  .      .         .21 

Iron        .         . 21 

Iron  Foundries       ... 22 

Copper  .         .         .         .        .        •  >     •        •        •         •         .22 
Quicksilver    .         ........  23 

Coal        .         .         .     \  ,   ' 23 

Mexican  Miners     .         .         .         .         .         .         .         .  25 

Mining  Laws 25 

Mints  and  Duties  on  Silver 27 

Smelting  Plants 28 

Mexican  Metallurgical  Company 28 

National  Mexican  Smelter  at  Monterey         ....      28 


x  Contents. 

PAGE: 

Central  Mexican  Smelter 29 

Velardena  Mining  Company 29 

The  Chihuahua  Mining  Company 29-   . 

The  Mazapil  Copper  Company,  Limited        ....       29 
Sabinal  Mining  and  Smelting  Company,  Chihuahua      .         .       29 

La  Preciosa 29 

The  Boleo  Smelter         ....        . ,:      .         .         .       29 

Orography     .         .         .         .  .         .  .         .         .29 

Hydrography         ......         .         .       V"     .       32 

Climate •>     •         •         -35 

Summary    of    the    Meteorological    Observations    Taken    in 

Several  Cities  of  Mexico  during  Several  Years        .       3& 
Summary   of   the    Meteorological   Observations    Taken    in 

Several  Localities  of  Mexico  during  the  Year  1869  .       39 
Mexico  as  a  Sanitarium        .         .         .         .         .         .         .         •       4* 

Flora     .         .         .         .        .         .         .         .         .         .         .        .42 

Coffee 44  • 

Sugar-cane .45 

Tobacco         ..........       45 

India-rubber  ...........       46 

Cotton 48 

Agave 48 

Henequen      ..........       49 

Pulque   .         .         .         . 49 

Cactus    .         .         .         .         .        ,         .         ...         .       51 
Cocoa    .         .         .        .        .        .        .         .        .        •         .       51 

Vanilla  .         .         .         .       v, .52 

Silk  Culture  .         .        ,        .         .         .        .         .         .         .       53 

Cochineal       . -53 

Rice       . 53 

Chicle,  or  Chewing-gum 53 

Yuca 54 

Ginger   .        . 55 

Canaigre •       55 

Peppermint 55 

Cabinet  and  Dye  Woods 55 

Grasses  .        .         .         .         .         .         .         .         .        .         .56 

Alfalfa  .       | 56 

Cattle-raising 56 

Sheep    .         .      '  V 58 

Products  of  Cold  and  Temperate  Regions    .         .         .        .  58 

Fruits    .        .         . '- •'      58 

Oranges          *         .         .         .  .  .         •         •       59 

Lemons .  ........       60 


Contents.  xi 

PAGE 

Limes  and  Shaddocks    .         .         .         .        .         .         .         .  61 

Bananas  .         .         .         .         .         .         .         .         .         .61 

Pineapple       ..........  62 

Cocoanut        ..........  62 

Mangoes .63 

Alligator  Pear 63 

Mamey A "\ .  63 

Zapote »        .  63 

Papaya  ........        >     •_•»>-       ,  63 

"Flowers .*        .  :      ,.        ..        .  63 

Irrigation v    -    .        .        .         ...  64 

The  Nazas  Irrigation      .         .         .        »        .        i        »        ,  67 

Fauna    ........         .        .         .     K,fy  70 

Ethnology     . .       V  72  » 

Mexican  Indians    .........  72   • 

Increase  of  Mexican  Population 76   • 

Decrease  of  the  Indian  Population        .         .         .         .         •  77   * 

The  Spaniards  in  Mexico       .         .         .         .        V       •        .  78 

English  and  Germans  in  Mexico   .         .         «        .         #        r-  79  » 

Americans  in  Mexico     .         ...         .        ,         v        .        .  79 

Ruins     .         .         .         ,:-       ,         .         .         f        ,         t   -.  ,  .  80 

Uxmal         .         .       .  .         ,         .         .         /        .        .        .  80 

Palenque     .         .         .         ,         .         .         .        «...        .81 

Cholula       .         .         .         .         .         ....        .  81 

Teotihuacan       .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        «  81 

Mitla .                 .        .        .         .        .         .        ....  83 

Languages     .         .         .         .                          .         .         .        ^     .  85 

Synopsis  of  the  Indian  Languages  of  Mexico  according  to 

Don  Francisco  Pimentel      .         .         .        ....  86  « 

Population     .        .        .        .        . 89  - 

Classification  of  Mexican  States 90 

Area  and  Population  of  the  United  Mexican  States       .        .  91  • 

Religion         .       ^.                  .         .         .         .         .         .         .         .  92 

Protestantism  in  Mexico        .         ...        .        .  95 

Political  Organization   .         .         .         .         .         .         .         .         r  98 

Political  Division  .         .         .         .         .         .         ....  99 

Army  and  Navy     .        ,         .         .         .         .     ;. ,  ..    '     w        »  99 

Education     .         .        .        .        .        .       ,.        .        .        .        .  100 

Universities  Established  by  the  Spanish  Government   .        ,  101 

School  of  Medicine        ...        ,,       .        .        .       ,.  102 

School  of  Engineering  ........  103 

Mexican  Technical  Schools  in  the  Present  Time  .        .        .  103 

Reorganization  of  the  Technical  Colleges     ....  104 

Primary  Education 104 


xii  Contents. 

PAGE 

School  Statistics .         .     105 

Libraries         .  •    .         .         .         .         .         .         .         .     106 

Newspapers    .         .         .         .         .         .        .         .         .         .     106 

The  Valley  of  Mexico 106 

The  City  of  Mexico .         .107 

Climate .no 

Mortality  in  the  City  of  Mexico     .     •    .     :   .       .,         .         .     in 
Climatological  Data  of  the  City  of  Mexico    .         .         .         .112 

Summary  of  the  Meteorological  Observations  of  the  City  of 

Mexico  in  1896    .         .     •'.  *        .         .        .        .        .     113 

Railways       .         .         .         .         .         .        •        •         •         •         •     IJ5 

President  Diaz's  Railway  Policy    .         .         .         .         .         .     117 

President  Diaz's  Statistics  on  Mexican  Railways  .         .         .     118 
Financial  Condition  of  Mexican  Railways     f         .         .         .     119 
Annual  Buildings  and  Earnings  of  Mexican  Railways        .     120 
Approximate  Tonnage  Moved  by  Central,  National,  Inter- 
oceanic,  and  Mexican  Railways  for  Ten  Years  ended 

December  31,  1896 ,     121 

Telegraphs .        .        .         .         ..121 

Postal  Service 123 

Public  Lands 124 

Immigration.         .         .         .         . 125 

Immigration  from  the  United  States      .        .        .        .         .     126 

Public  Debt.        .        ....        .     .'•'.        .        .        .129 

Banking        ....        .        .        .        .        .        .        .     131 

Patents  and  Trademarks       .        .        ...        .        .        .132 

Patents  .         .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .     132 

Trademarks   .  .        .        .        .        ...        .     132 

Shipping  and  Communications      .        .        .        .        *        .        .     133 

Money,  Weights,  and  Measures .     133 

Non-Official  Publications  (English)      ...  .        .     134 

PART  II. — STATISTICS    .        .        .        .135 

Revenues  and  Expenses i37« 

Revenue  and  Expenses  of  the  Federal  Government  of  Mexico 

in  1808  and  from  1822  to  June  30,  1867      .        .        .     139 
Revenue  and  Expenses  of  the  Mexican  Government  from 

July  i,  1867,  to  June  30,  1888     .         .         .  ./   140 

Revenue  and  Expenses  of  the  Mexican  Government  from 

July  i,  1888,  to  June  30,  1896     .         .         .         .         .     141 
Federal  Appropriations  during  the  Fiscal  Years  from  1868  to 

1895 .     142 

Sources  of  Revenue •         •     X43 

Import  Duties        .    ' V       •         .     143 


Contents.  xiii 

PACK 

Additional  Import  Duties 144 

Export  Duties  ....  ....  144 

Amount  of  Import  Duties 144 

Custom  Receipts  from  1823  to  1875 145 

Internal  Revenue  .........  146 

Receipts  of  the  Custom  Houses  during  the  Twenty-seven 

Fiscal  Years  Ending  June  30,  1896  .  .  /.  .  147 
Internal  Revenue  Receipts  from  January  i,  1875,  to  June 

30,  1896  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  148 

Direct  Taxes 148 

Receipts  from  Direct  Taxes  in  the  Federal  District  during 

the  Twenty-seven  Fiscal  Years  Ending  June  30, 1896  .  149 

Revenues  of  the  Mexican  States  from  1884  to  1895       .        .  150 
Expenses  of  the  Mexican  States  from  1884  to  1895       .        .151 

Revenues  of  the  Municipalities  of  Mexico  from  1884  to  1895  152 

Expenses  of  the  Municipalities  of  Mexico  from  1884  to  1895  153 

State  and  Municipal  Finances       ........  154 

Foreign  Trade       ....         .         .        .        .        .        .  155 

Imports.         .        .         .      •  •-..        .        .        .        .        .        .  155 

Mexican  Imports  and  Exports  from  1826  to  1828  .  .  155 
Imports  in  Mexico  from  July  i,  1872,  to  June  30,  1875,  and 

in  the  year  1884-1885  .  .  .  .  .  156 
Imports  in  Mexico  from  July  i,  1885,  to  June  30,  1886,  and 

from  July  i,  1888,  to  June  30,  1890  .  .  157 
Imports  in  Mexico  from  the  Fiscal  Year  1892-1893,  to  the 

Fiscal  Year  1895-1896  .  .  .  ...  158 

Exports  ..-  . v  .  159 

Imports  in  Mexico  by  Countries  in  the  Fiscal  Years  1888-1889 

and  1889-1890,  and  Imports  and  Exports  by  Countries 

and  Custom  Houses  in  the  Fiscal  Years  1894-1895  and 

1895-1896  .  .  .  *  .....  160 
Exports  of  Mexican  Commodities  from  July  i,  1886,  to 

June  30,  1896      .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .  162 

Statement  of  Exports  of  some  Agricultural  Products  during 

the  Fiscal  Years  from  July  i,  1877,  to  June  30,  1896  .  164 
Value  of  Imports  from  Mexico  from  July  i,  1882,  to  June 

30,  1892       .         ...        .         .         .         ;        .  165 

Resume  of  Total  Imports       .     ^  .         .         .         .         .        :.  167 

Destination  and  Value  of  Exports  from  Mexico  in  the  Fiscal 

Years  from  1882  to  1892  .  .  .  ...  168 

Total  Exports  . ..;.';  169 

Trade  between  Mexico  and  the  United  States  .  .  .  ,-  170 
Total  Imports  to  Mexico  and  Imports  from  the  United 

States  for  the  Fiscal  Years  1872-1873  to  1895-1896  172 


xiv  Contents* 

PAGE 

Total  Exports  from  Mexico  and  the  Exports  to  the  United 

States  from  1877-1878  to  1895-1896  ....     173 
Statement  of  the  Commercial  Transactions  between  Mexico 

and  the  United  States  from  1826  to  1850    .         .         .173 
Commerce  in  Merchandise  between  the  United  States  and 

Mexico  by  Years  and  Decades  from  1851  to  1897         .     174 
Total  Commerce  between  the  United  States  and  Mexico  by 

Years  and  Decades  from  1851  to  1897         .         .         .     175 
Quantities  and  Values  of  the  Principal  and  all  other  Articles 

of  Imports  into  the  United  States  from,  and  of  Exports 

from  the  United  States  to,  Mexico,  1858-1883    .         .     176 
Quantities  and  Values  of  the  Principal  and  all  other  Articles 

of  Imports  into  the  United  States  from,  and  of  Exports 

from  the  United  States  to,  Mexico,  from  1889-1897  .     181 

Increase  of  Trade  during  the  year  1896-1897        .         .         .184 

Leading  Merchandise  Imports  from  Mexico       .         .         .184 

Exports  from  the  United  States  to  Mexico         .         .         .     184 

Tropical  Products  Supplied  by  Mexico  to  the  United  States     185 

Cattle  Exported  to  the  United  States    .        .        .     ...     186 

Coinage         .        ;..     .  .      .„       .         .      .i        .-•-."      .        ..     186 

Coinage  by  the  Mexican  Mints  from  their  Establishment  in 

J53S  to  June  30,  1895 .187 

Production  of  Gold  and  Silver  in  Mexico  in  1879-1880, 1889- 

1890,  and  1894-1895    .         ...         .         .        .     188 

Export  of  Precious  Metals  and  Minerals  from  Mexico  in  the 

years  1879-1880,  1889-1890,  and  1894-1895        .         .     188 

Exports  of  Silver  from  July  i,  1872,  to  June  30,  1896  .         .     190 

Mexican  Gold  Exports          .         .        ....        .         .         .     190 

Mexican  Gold  Exported  to  the  United  States       .         .        .     191 
Imports  of  Gold  Bullion,  Ore,  and  Coin  from  Mexico  into 

the  United  States  from  1891  to  1895  .         .       .  .         .     191 
Imports  of  Gold  Bullion,  Ore,  and  Coin  from  Mexico  into 

the  United  States  from  1892  to  1896  .         ...         •     191 
Gold  Exported  from  Mexico  to  the  United  States  from  1891 

to  1896         »        .         .         .        .-,.'.         .     192 

Railways        .         .         .         .         .         .,;      .       -«         .         .         .     193, 

Statement  by  the  Department  of  Communications  of  Mexico 

of  the  Railroad  Mileage  in  Operation  on  October  31, 

1896     .         .         .         .         .         .       /.        .         .         .     193 

Resume  of  Railways  in  Mexico  in  1895          ,         .         .  195 

Mexican  Central     .         ...         .         .     ,    .         .         .         .     196 

Mexican  National  .         .         .         »         .         .         .         .         .     196 

Earnings  and  Expenses  of  the  Mexican  National  from  1889 

to  1896        t        .         ,  '..'*.        *        .        .        .     198 


Contents 


XV 


PAGE 

Mexican  International 199 

Mexican  Southern .........  200 

Other  Railroads     ........     :  ;  201 

Mexican  Railroad .V.  201 

Interoceanic  Railway          .         .       •  ;-      -y      •  m    •     >9         t  2O2 

Sonora  Railway .         .         .         ....         .         .  202 

Hidalgo  and  Northeastern  Railway    .         .         .      '  Y        .  202 

Merida  and  Progreso  Railway    .     '->\  ",   .         ,         .         .  203 

Tehuacan  and  Esperanza  Railway     .         .....  203 

Merida  and  Peto  Railway  ..-..".,         .         .  203 

Sinaloa  and  Durango  (Altata  to  Culiacan)  Railway  .         .  204 

Merida  and  Campeche  Railway.         »         .        V  •  '  v.       •  204 

Merida  and  Valladolid  Railway          ..        .         .         .         .  204 

Tlalmanalco  Railway .         .         .         .         .        .         „ '       .  205 

San  Juan  Bautista  and  Carrizal  Passenger  Railway   .         .  205 

San  Andres  and  Chalchicomula  Railway   .         .         .        .  205 

Orizaba  and  Ingenio  Railway     ...         .         .         .  206 

Santa  Ana  and  Tlaxcala  Railway       .         .         .         .         .  206 

Cardenas  and  Rio  Grijalva  Railway  .         .         .         .         .  206 

Toluca  and  San  Juan  de  las  Huertas  Railway   .         .         .  207 

Vanegas,  Cedral,  Matehuala,  and  Rio  Verde  Railway        .  207 

Merida  and  Izamal  Railway       .         ..;       .         .         .         .  207 

San  Marcos  and  Nautla  Railway         .         .         .         .         .  207 

Monterey  and  Gulf  Railway       .         .         .         .         .         .  208 

Cordova  and  Tuxtepec  Railway          .         .         .         .         .  208 

Maravatio  and  Cuernavaca  Railway  .         ,         .         .         .  208 

Salamanca  and  Santiago  Valley  Railway    ....  208 

Monte  Alto  Railway  .         .         .         ...         .         .  209 

Valley  of  Mexico  Railway .         .         .         .         .         .         .  209 

Puebla  Industrial  Railway          .         .         .         .         .         .  209 

Mexican  Northern  Railway        .         .         ;        .  •      .        .  209 
Mexico,  Cuernavaca,  and  Pacific  Railway          .         ,        .  209 
Federal  District  Tramways         .         .         «         .         .         .  210 
Veracruz  and  Alvarado  Railway         .         »        ;,     :   ».  .      .  210 
Total  Traffic  and  Receipts  of  Mexican  Railways          .        .         .  210 
Traffic  and  Receipts  of  the  Mexican  Railways      .         .         .  211 
Railway  Subsidies  Paid  by  the  Mexican  Government  .         .         .  211 
Subsidies  Paid  by  the  Mexican  Government  to  Railway  Com- 
panies up  to  June  30,  1896           .         .         .        .         .  212 

Detailed  Statement  of  the  Subsidies  Paid  by  the  Mexican 

Government  to  the  Railway  Companies       .         .         .  213 

1.  Mexican  Railway  .         .         .         ...        ,         .  213 

2.  Hidalgo  Railway    \    '     .         .        ".        >        •.         .         .  213 

3.  Veracruz  &  Alvarado  Railway       .         .         .    •  "  .         .  213 


xvi  Contents. 

PAGE 

4.  Merida  &  Peto  Railway          .         .         .        .        .        .213 

5.  Interoceanic  Railway     .         .         .         .         .         .         .214 

6.  Occidental  Railway        .         .         .         .         .         .         .214 

7.  Mexican  Central  and  sundry  branches  .         .         .        .214 

8.  Mexican  National  and  branches 215 

9.  Sonora  Railway  with  a  branch 216 

10.  Me"rida  &  Valladolid  Railway  with  a  branch         .         .216 

11.  Me"rida  &  Campeche  Railway  via  Kalkini      .         .         .216 

12.  San  Marcos  &  Nautla  Railway 216 

13.  Toluca  &  San  Juan  de  las  Huertas  Railway.         .         .217 

14.  Vanegas,  Cedral,  Matehuala,  &  Rio  Verde  Railway       .     217 

15.  Jimenez  &  Sierra  Madre  Railway          .         .         .         .217 

16.  Mexican  Southern  Railway 217 

17.  Tonala  &  Frontera  Railway  .         .         .         .         .         .217 

18.  Monterey  &  Mexican  Gulf  Railway       .         .         .         .218 

19.  Tecolula  &  Espinal  Railway 218 

20.  Pachuca  &  Tampico  Railway         .         .         .         .         .218 

21.  Maravatio  &  Iguala  Railway          .         .         .         .         .218 

22.  Mexican  Northeastern  Railway 218 

23.  Veracruz  &  Boca  del  Rio  Railway         .         .         .         .219 

24.  Tula,  Zacualtipan  &  Tampico  Railway          .         .         .219 

25.  Matamoros,  Izucar,  &  Acapulco  Railway      .         .         .219 

26.  Lower  California  Railway 219 

27.  Monte  Alto  Railway      .         .        .         .        .        .         .219 

28.  Tehuantepec  Railway    .         .         .         .        ..         .219^ 

1.  Contractors,  Edward  Learned  &  Co.     |  .        .    '*     .     219 

2.  Contractor,  Mr.  Delfin   Sanchez       .         .         .         .220 

3.  Mac-Murdo  Contract         .         .....     220 

4.  Stanhope,  Hampson,  &  Corthel  Contract.         .         .     220. 
Public  Debt 221 

Statement  of  the  National  Debt  of  Mexico  to  June  30,  1896  221 

Statement  of  the  Federal  Public  Debt  on  June  30,  1896       .  222 

Post-Office  and  Telegraph  Service 223 

Post-Offices  in  Mexico  in  1895  by  States       .         .         .         .223 
Earnings  and  Expenditures  of  the  Post-Office  and  Telegraph 

Services  from  July  i,  1869  to  June  30,  1896        .         .  224 
Number  of  Pieces  Transported  by  Mexican  Mails  from  1878- 

1879  to  1894-1895 225 

Banks    ............  225 

List  of  Mexican  Banks  ........  225  • 

Situation  of  the  Mexican  Banks  on  December  31,  1894         .  226 

Public  Lands 226  j 

Free  Titles  of  the  Indian-town  lands  issued  to  the  inhabitants 

from  1877  to  1895        .....       >        .  227 


Contents* 

PAGE 

Titles  issued  for  unwarranted  possession  of  Public  Lands  by 

Private  Parties  in  1894  and  1895         ....  227 
Titles  of  public  lands  issued  to  Private  Parties  in  1894  and 

1895 227 

Titles  issued  in  1894  and  1895  to  Surveying  Companies        .  228 

Education . :       ,     /  .  228 

Newspapers  Published  in  Mexico  in  1895      .         .        ,        .  228 
Public  Schools  supported  by  the  Federal,  State,  and  Muni- 
cipal Administration's  in  1895      .        ...         .  229 
Schools  supported  by  Private  Parties    *       .,        ...        ./       .  231 
Public  Libraries  in  Mexico    .         .         .        .  ;     .. ',-.,.        .  233 

Manufacturing  Establishments  in  Mexico  in  1893      ...  ,...,        .  233 

Summary  of  Factories  existing  in  Mexico  in  1893      ., ....     .  .  236 

Navigation    .      - .'        .       .,,        .....        v        •  237 

Vessels  arrived  at  Mexican  Ports  in  1895      .         .        .         .  238 

Vessels  departed  from  Mexican  Ports  in  1895       .       ...        .  239 

Resume"  of  arrivals  and  departures  from  1885  to  1895  .         .  239 

Foreign  Passengers  arrived  at  Mexican  Ports  in  1895  .         .  240 

Foreign  Passengers  departed  from  Mexican  Ports  in  1895    .  241 
General  resume*  of  Passengers  arrived  and  departed  by  Port 

and  Rail  in  1895 .         .        .        .  * .   ...       .        .        .  242 

Vessels  arrived  at  and  departed  from  Mexican  Ports  during 

the  Fiscal  Years  1894-95  to  1895-96  .        .        .         .  243 

Agricultural  Products  : 

Resume*  of  Agricultural  Products  in  Mexico         .        .        .  243 

Conclusion    . »        •  244 

ADDENDA    .         .         .        .         .  245 

Federal  Revenue  and  Expenses  of  Mexico  in  the  Fiscal  Year 

1896-97  .  .  .  245 

Imports  and  Exports  of  Mexico  by  Countries  and  Custom- 

Houses  in  the  Fiscal  Year  1896-97  .  .  .  .  .  246 

Trade  between  Mexico  and  the  United  States  during  the  first 

nine  months  of  the  Calendar  Year  1897  .  .  .  .  247 

Mexican  Exports  to  the  United  States          .        .        ...  247 

Mexican  Imports  from  the  United  States     .        .     .  *        .        .  248 

APPENDIX    .         ...        .249 

Mexico  as  a  Central  American  State    ...        .        .        .  249 

Five  States  of  Central  America     .         .         .         .         ,        .,        .  250 

Mexico          ...       .         ...         .         .      .  ,.         .         ,  251 

Geographical  Extension  of  Central  America         .         .      .  .        .  251 


xviii  Contents. 

PAGE 

Mexican  Profiles  .        .        .        . 253 

From  Veracruz   to   Mexico   by   Orizaba,  by  the  Mexican 

Railway       .        .        .        .         .        .        .'•-".         .  253 

From  Apizaco  to  Puebla,  a  branch  of  the  same  road    .         .  253 

From  Veracruz  to  Mexico,  by  the  Interoceanic  Railway       .  254 
From  the  City  of  Mexico  to  Morelos,  a  branch  of  the  same 

road     .                 ,        .        .         .         .         .         .         .  254 

From  Puebla  to  Izucar  de  Matamoros,  a  branch  of  the  same 

road     .         .         .         . 255 

From  Mexico  to  El  Paso  del  Norte  or  Ciudad  Juarez  by  the 

Central  Mexican  Railroad  ...         .         .         .  255 

From  Aguascalientes  to  Tampico,  a  branch  of  the  same  road.  257 
From  Irapuato  to  Guadalajara,  a  branch  of  the  same  road   .  258 
From  Mexico  to  Laredo  Tamaulipas  by  the  Mexican  Na- 
tional Railway 258 

From  Acdmbaro  to  Patzcuaro,  a  branch  of  the  same  road    .  261 
From  Piedras  Negras  or  Ciudad  Porfirio  Diaz  to  Durango, 

by  the  Mexican  International  Railway        .     •   .         .  261 
From  Sabinas  to  Hondo,  a  branch  of  the  same  road     .         .262 

From  the  City  of  Mexico  to  Cuernavaca  and  Acapulco        .  262 

From  Puebla  to  Oaxaca,  by  the  Mexican  Southern  Railway.  263 
From  Coatzacoalcos  to  Salina  Cruz,  by  the  National  Te- 

huantepec  Railway      .         ...        .         .         .  263 

From  the  City  of  Mexico  to  Pachuca,  by  the  Hidalgo  and 

Northeastern  Mexican  Railway  .....  264 

Northeastern  Railway  from  Mexico  to  Tizayuca        .  264 

Hidalgo  Railway  to  Tuxpan        .        ......         •         •  264 

From  Tepa  to  Pachuca,  a  branch  of  the  Hidalgo  Rail- 
way      .                 .         .        .         .         .         .         .  264 

From  San  Augustin  to  Irolo,  a  branch  of  the  Hidalgo 

Railway        .        .                 .        .         .         .         .  264 

Bridie-Path  from  Durango  to  Mazatlan         .        .         .         .  265 

Wagon  Road  from  Manzanillo  to  Guadalajara      .        .         .  265 

Wagon  Road  from  Tehuacan  to  Oaxaca  and  Puerto  Angel  .  266 

THE  VALLEY  OF  MEXICO'S  DRAINAGE         .  266 

Topographical  Conditions  of  the  Valley  of  Mexico       .         .  267 

Work  done  by  the  Indians     .        .        .         ,        .         .         .  267 

Work  done  by  the  Spaniards 269 

Work  done  by  the  Mexican  Government       ,        .         .         .  274 

The  Tunnel    .      ..         .         .         .         .         .         .         .         .  276 

The  Canal     .        .        .        .        .        .        .      '. .        .        .  277 

The  Sewage   .         ...      •        •        •-      ...         .279 

Completion  of  the  work         .        ...        .         .         .  279 

Index 407 


CONTENTS  OF  COFFEE  CULTURE  ON  THE  SOUTH- 
ERN COAST  OF  CHIAPAS          .        .        .        .        t  281 

Coffee  Culture  on  the  Southern  Coast  of  Chiapas         .        ,        .  283 

I.  Introduction          .         ...        . .       .         .        .  283 

II.  Future  of  Coffee  Culture  in  Mexico      .         .        .        .        .  285 

III.  Advantages   and   Disadvantages   of   Soconusco  for  Coffee 

Growing.        .        ,      ,  .        .        .      "-.        .        .        .  286 

1.  The  Advantages  which  Soconusco  Offers  for  the  Culti- 

vation of  Coffee      .        *        ..'•     .        «        .        .        .  286 

A.  Advantages  of  the  Soil  and  Climate  of  Soconusco  .  286 

B.  Cheapness  of  Labor  in  Soconusco         .        .        .        .  287 

C.  Proximity  of  Good  Coffee  Land  to  the  Sea  .        .        .  287 

D.  Facility  with  which  the    Expenses    of  Coffee  Grow- 

ing  may   be  Defrayed   by   Raising  Other  Crops  at 

the  Same  Time  on  the  Same  Land      .         .                 .  288 

2.  Disadvantages  of  Coffee  Raising  in  Soconusco         ..        .  289 

IV.  Conditions  of  Land  Suitable  for  Coffee         ,        .        .         .  291 

1.  Nature  of  the  Land  and  its  Configuration         .        .        .  291 

A.  Land  Suitable  for  Coffee      .         .     "  ',        .        .-.       .  291 

B.  Layer  of  Vegetable  Soil 292 

C.  Depth  of  the  Layer  of  Vegetable  Soil  ...         .  292 

D.  Land  of  Volcanic  Formation         .         .        .        .*        .  292 

E.  Virgin  Forest  Soil  and  Cultivated  Soil         •        •        .  292 

a.  Virgin  Forest  Land         .        .        .         .       ....  293 

b.  Land  Recently  Cleared           .        .        .        .        .  293 

c.  Land  Best  Adapted  for  Coffee        .        „        .        .  294 

F.  Configuration  of  the  Land    .         .         ,         .         .         .  294 

a.  Advantages  of  Level  Ground        ...         .        .  294 

b.  Advantages  of  Hilly  Ground          .        .        .        .  294 

c.  Configuration  of  the  Ground  Best  Suited  for 

Coffee          .        .        .        .        .         .        *  295 

2.  Temperature      .        .        .        .        ...        .        .  295 

3.  Altitude  above  the  Level  of  the  Sea          .         .        .        .  295 

A.  Productiveness   of   the   Coffee-Tree   in   Relation    to 

Altitude      .         .         ...        .         .        .        .  296 

B.  Advantages  of  High  Lands  .         .        .        .         ,        .  296 


xx  Contents* 

PAGE 

IV.  Conditions  of  Land  Suitable  for  Coffee — Continued 

C.  Altitude  Most  Suitable  for  Coffee  Growing  .  .  .  296 

D.  Altitude  of  Various  Places  in  Soconusco      .  .  .  297 

4.  Exposure  to  the  Sun          .         .         .         .-  .  297 

5.  Protection  against  the  Winds    .         .        .        .  .  .  298 

6.  Humidity  ....         .         .         ,         »  .  .  298 

7.  Streams      .        .         .         .        ,        .        •        »  •  •  29& 

8.  Sites  for  Building  Purposes        .        .        .        '.  «  .  299 

V.  Coffee  Cultivation .         .         .         .        .        .        ,  ,-''•  .  299 

1.  Shade "  .  .-*       .  .  .  300 

A.  General  Considerations  Regarding  Shade    .  .  .  300 

B.  Advantages  of  Shade    .        »         .        „        >  .  .  301 

C.  Disadvantages  of  Shade         .        .        .        .  .  .  .  301 

D.  Rules  Regarding  Shade         ...        ,  .  .301 

E.  Trees  to  be  Preferred  for  Shade   .         .     '   .  .  .  302 

2.  Distance  between  the  Plants      .       V.        .  .  .  302 

A.  General  Considerations  Regarding  Distance  »  .  302 

B.  Number  of  Plants  in  Each  Cuerda        .         .  ,  .  303 

C.  Yield  of  Each  Cuerda .  .  304 

D.  Area  Required  by  Each  Tree        .        .         .  .  .  304 

E.  Advantages  of  Long  Distances     .         .         .  ,  305 

F.  Advantages  of  Short  Distances     .         .         .  .  .  305 

G.  Rules  Regarding  Distance    .         .        *        .  .  .  305 

3.  Nursery     .        .        .        .        .        •        •        •  •  •  3°^ 

A.  Advantages  of  a  Nursery      .         .         .         .  .  ,  307 

B.  Land  Suitable  for  a  Nursery  and  its  Location  .  .  307 

C.  Seed-Plot       . .308 

D.  Nursery  from  Seed .  308 

a.  Preparation  of  the  Ground  for  the  Nursery  .  .  309 

b.  Time  for  Planting  .         .         ....  .  .  309 

c.  Seeds      .  \    »        .        .        .        .        .  .  .  309 

d.  Sowing  the  Seed     .        .        .                 .  .  .  310 

e.  Replanting      .         .         .         .        '.        .  .  .  310 

f.  Cultivation      ....        ,.       .  .  .  316 

g.  Pruning  .         .         .                 .         .        ...  311 

h.  Time  for  Transplanting          .         .        .  .  .  311 

E.  Nursery  Formed  from  Young  Plants     .         .  ,  .  311 

F.  Nursery  Formed  from  Slips  .         .         .         ...  311 

G.  Nursery  of  Plants  for  Selling         .                 .  .  .312 
H.  Nurseries  in  Ceylon .312 

4.  Preparation  of  the  Ground  for  Planting  Coffee  .  .  313 

A.  Felling  the  Trees «  .  .  313 

B.  Simultaneous  Sowing    ....     '   .  .  .  314 

C.  Forming  of  a  Plan  for  a  Plantation       .        .'  ,  .  314 


Contents,  xxi 

PAGE 

V.  Coffee  Cultivation — Continued 

D.  Staking 314 

a.  Object,  Advantages,  and  Time  of  Staking      .         .315 

b.  Staking  in  Soconusco     .         .         .         .        r       ,  315 

c.  Staking  in  Ceylon  .                 .         .        .        .      .'•;'  316 

Laborie  System    .         .         .         ......  316 

Sabonadiere  System     .         .         .        .         .        .  316 

Respective  Advantages  of  the  two  Systems  .         .  317 

E.  Digging  the  Holes         .                 .        ."'      .         .        .  317 

a.  Time  for  Digging  the  Holes  .         ...        .  317 

b.  Manner  of  Digging  the  Holes         .         ;      .  •.        ..  318 

c.  Size  of  the  Holes    .         .         .        *        .      ;.        .  318 

d.  Planting  without  Holes  .         .        .        *        .        .  318 

5.  Transplanting    .         ...         .         .        v        .       '•>.        .  318 

A.  Time  for  Transplanting        .         .  /      .         .                  .  319 

B.  Transplanting  with  the  Earth  Adhering  to  the  Roots  319 

a.  Advantages  of  Transplanting  with  the  Earth  Adher- 

ing to  the  Roots   .         .        .'       . •    ; '  •  .        .        .  319 

b.  Manner  of  Transplanting  with  the  Earth  Adher- 

ing to  the  Roots   .         .        .        .        *        .         .  319 

c.  Quantity  of  Earth  Adhering  to  the  Roots       .         .  320 

d.  Size  of  the  Plants  at  the  Time  of  Transplanting  320 

e.  Pruning  the  Root  of  the  Plant  in  Transplanting     .  321 

C.  Transplanting  with  the  Root  Free  from  Earth     .        .  321 

a.  Manner  of  Planting  Coffee-Trees  with  the  Roots 

Bare      .        .         .         .         .        .         .        .        .321 

b.  Disadvantages  of  Transplanting  with  the  Roots  Bare  322 

c.  Case  in  which  Transplanting  should  be  Done  with 

the  Roots  Bare    .......  322 

D.  Transplanting  in  Slips            .         .         .         .         .         .  322 

E.  Transplanting  in  Ceylon       .'        .        .        .        ,        *  322 

6.  Cultivation  of  Coffee          .        .        .        .         .         .        .  323 

A.  Clearing  the  Ground     .         ...         .        .        .  323 

a.  Necessity  and  Advantages  of  Weeding  .         .        .  323 

b.  Manner  of  Weeding        .         .        .      .-.        .        .  324 

c.  Number  of  Weedings  to  be  Made  During  the  Year  324 

d.  Weeding  in  Ceylon          .        .  ,      .        .        .        .  325 

B.  Replanting    .        '.        .        .        .  -      .        *        .        .  325 

C.  Pruning          .         .         ...        .        .        *  <      *        .325 

a.  General  Considerations  on  Pruning        .        ^        .  326 

b.  Principles  of  Pruning      .         .        .       V-     .        .  326 

c.  Advantages  of  Pruning  .         .         .         .        ...  327 

d.  Topping          ...         .         .         .     .   .        .  328 

e.  Pruning  .        ...         .         .         ...  329 


Contents* 


V.  Coffee  Cultivation  —  Continued 

f.  Rules  for  Pruning  .......  329 

System  of  Laborie        ......  329 

System  of  Sabonadiere         .....  330 

System  of  a  Practical  Cultivator  of  Ceylon    .         .  331 
System  of  the  Observer  of  Colombo      .         .         .331 

g.  Manner  of  Pruning         .      t&        .        .                  .  332 
h.  Time  of  Pruning     .         .         .        ».       .                  .  333 

D.  Cultivation  of  Coffee  in  Ceylon     .        .        .         .         .  333 

a.  Making  Roads         .         .         .      -^:       »:    .%.        .  334 

b.  Drainage         .         .         .        ....        .         -335 

c.  Making  Trenches    .         .        .        *..       *        .        .  335 

d.  Loosening  the  Earth       .                 ....  336 

e.  Making  Ridges       .        .        .        .        »        .        .  336 

f.  Irrigating         ........  336 

g.  Enemies  of  the  Coffee-Tree   .        .        .        »        .  336 

Grubs  .........  337 

Rats      ........        -337 

Coffee-Bug   ........  337 

Ants     ...                 .....  337 

7.  Fertilizers          .........  337 

A.  Necessity  for  and  Advantages  of  Fertilizers          .         .  338 

B.  Fertilizers  Used  in  Soconusco       .....  338 

C.  Fertilizers  Used  in  Ceylon   .         .        .        •„  .       ,        .  338 

a.  Substances  which  are  Used  as  Manure  .        .  339 

Cattle-Dung  .         ...        .        .;        .        .  339 

Bones   ......         k        .        .  339 

Super-phosphates.        .        ....        .        .  339 

Pulp  of  the  Fruit          .         .         .     :  V        .         .  339 

Prunings       .....        «        .        V  339 

Mana  Grass           .         .        .         .     ;  .  .  ,       •  *        .  339 

Salts  of  Ammonia        .         .        .         .                 .  340 

Wood-  Ashes         .....        .        .  340 

Burnt  Clay  ........  340 

Lime     .......        .        .  340 

Guano  .......       *.        .  340 

Mixtures  of  these  Substances       .         .     _-*        .  340 

b.  Manner  of  Applying  Fertilizers  to  the  Soil    .        .  340 

c.  Period  at  which  the  Fertilizers  should  be  Used  341 

d.  Cost  of  Fertilizers  .......  341 

8.  Gathering  of  the  Crop        .....        .        .  342 

A.  Gathering  the  Crop  in  Soconusco          .         .        .        .  342 

a.  Time  at  which  the  Coffee-Tree   Begins  to   Bear 

Fruit  .......        ,         .  342 


Contents* 


V.  Coffee  Cultivation  —  Continued 

b.  Time   during   which   the  Coffee-Tree    Continues 

Bearing  Fruit      ......  .     342 

c.  Blossoming  and  Fructification  of  the  Coffee-Tree  .     343 

d.  Gathering  the  Crop         .         .         *     '*  .  .    343 
B.  Gathering  the  Crop  in  Ceylon       .       \  '.'"•"•'•  •  •     344 

9.  Preparation  of  the  Coffee  for  the  Market  .        *  .  .     344 

A.  Preparation  of  Coffee  in  Soconusco      .        •  .  .     345 

a.  Pulping  .        .        .       '.<"::           ''••;••;.    .  >  .     345 

b.  Washing          >        .        .    <     .        .        *•  .  .     346 

c.  Separating  the  Good  Coffee  from  the  Bad  .  .     346 

d.  Exposure  to  the  Sun       .     ;:.v        ,,      ~*'  i  .     346 

e.  Shelling  .         .        ...        •        »        »   •  •  •     347 

f.  Dyeing    .        .        .        .        ;"      .        .  .  .    347 

g.  Winnowing     .         .        .         ,        S>      .  »  .     347 
h.  Sorting  the  Coffee  .     .  .  .  •  v   •     .         .  -.  .     347 

B.  Improvement   in  the   Preparation   of   Coffee  in  So- 

conusco  .         .        .        .         ..       <        *  .  *     348 

C.  Preparation  of  Coffee  in  Ceylon    .     .   .-    •  •,  .  .     348 

VI.  Profits  of  Coffee  Culture        .......     350 

i.  Cost,  Productiveness,  and  Net  Profits  of  Coffee  in  So- 

conusco   .         .         .        *        .        .        *  -.•  -.     350 

A.  Cost  of  a  Plantation  in  Soconusco         .        .  .  .351 

a.  Value  of  the  Ground       .         .         .        .  *  .     351 

b.  Expenses  of  the  First  Year     .         ...  .  .351 

Preparation  of  the  Ground  .         «  -      .  .  .351 

Seed     ......        .  »  "     .     351 

Transportation,  Planting,  and  Weeding  .  .351 

Other  Expenses    .         .         .        |        .  .  .     351 

c.  Expenses  of  the  Second  Year         ^       «  .  .352 

Preparing  the  Ground     .     .        »•        .  .  .     352 

Staking         .         .         ...        ;        ;  .  .     352 

Drilling  Holes      .         ....        4  *  .     352 

Transplanting       .         .         .        ...  •     352 

Weeding       .         .         .         .        .        .  ...     352 

Other  Expenses    .         .         .         .        .  .  .352 

d.  Expenses  for  the  Third  Year  .        .:       .  .»"       *     352 

Weedings      .         .        .        ...        .  .  .352 

Threshing  Floors          .        ,        .        *  .  .352 

Pulper           .         .        .        >,        •        •  •  .352 

Retrilla         .        .        .        .      •  *  ."  '  .  v  '  <     352 

Fanner          .     :   .        «   <     «        •        .  *  *    352 

Oxen     .         .         .         .         .         .         .  v  .     352 

Picking  the  Fruit         \\      .         .        *  .  /    352 


Contents* 


VI.  Profits  of  Coffee  Culture—  Continued 

Other  Expenses    .         .         .        .         .        .         .352 

e.  Expenses  for  the  Fourth  Year         .        .         .         .352 

Weedings      ........  352 

Threshing  Floors          1         .....  352 

Machinery    .         .        .       ;.   ;     .         .                 .  352 

Picking  the  Fruit          .        .        .        .         .        .  352 

Other  Expenses    .         .         .        .        .         .        .  352 

f.  Resume"  of  Expenses       .         .         .        .        .         .352 

B.  Productiveness  of  a  Plantation  in  Soconusco       .        .  353 

C.  Profits  of  Coffee  in  Soconusco      .     :.  .        .         .         .353 

2.  Cost,  Productiveness,  and  Profits  of  Coffee  in  Barcenas 

Plantation         .         .         .         ....        .  354 

A.  Cost  of  Coffee  in  Barcenas    .         .         .        ,        .        .  354 

Nursery  and  Seeds       .         .         .        .        .         .        .  354 

Stakes  and  Holes         .....        «,        .  354 

Preparation  of  the  Ground          .         .         .        .        .  354 

Transplanting      .......        .  354 

Weedings     ........        -354 

Other  Expenses  ........  354 

B.  Productiveness  of  Coffee  in  Barcenas  ....  354 

C.  Profits  of  Coffee  Culture  in  Barcenas    ....  354 

3.  Cost  and  Profit  of  Coffee  in  Ceylon          ....  355 
First  Year  —  September,  1865      ,         .....  355 

January,  1866      .        .  .      .         .         .        .        .        .  355 

March  to  December  31,  1866  .  .  .  .  .  355 

Second  Year  —  January  to  December,  1867  .  .  ..  356 

Permanent  Buildings  .  .  .  ...  .  356 

Third  Year—  January  to  December,  1868  .        .        '.        .  356 

Permanent  Buildings  .         .         .         .        .        .        •  357 

Crop  Expenses  .  .  .  .  .  ...  357 

Recapitulation    ......        •        •        •  357 

VII.  Conclusion    .......        *        •        •  359 

APPENDIX    .        .        .        .        .  361 

Causes  which  Determine  the  Climate  of  a  Locality      .        ,        .  361 

1.  Latitude     ........        .-       *  362 

2.  Altitude     ..........  362 

3.  Location  of  Mountain  Chains    ......  362 

4.  Proximity  or  Distance  from  the  Sea  .         .         .                 .  363 

5.  The  Inclination  which  the  Country  Bears  to  the  Course 

of  the  Sun  .......         .•  ...      ,         .  363 

6.  The  Geological  Character  of  the  Soil        ...        .        ,  363 


Contents* 


Causes  which  Determine  the  Climate  of  a  Locality  —  Continued 

7.  The  Degree  of  Cultivation  of  the  Soil       .         .         .         .     363 

8.  Prevailing  Winds       ........     363 

9.  The  Quantity  of  Annual  Rainfall      ...         .:       •     364 
Controversy  about  the  Tehuantepec  Lands  for  Coffee          .        .     364 

Letter  of  October  15,  1893,  from  M  Romero  to  the  Editor 

of  the  India-Rubber  World,  of  New  York          '  ,<        .     364 
Rubber  Shade  for  Coffee  Plantations        .         .   '     .         .         .     365 
Letter  of  October  30,  1893,  to  the  Editor  of  the  India- 
Rubber  World,  by  F.  O.  Harriman,  in  Response  to 
M.  Romero's  Letter    .      ;-.        .        .        .        .        .     365 

Another  Response  to  Senor  Romero         .        .        .        .         .     367 

Letter  of  November  9,  1893,  to  the  Editor  of  the  India- 
Rubber  World,  by  J.  P.  Harriman,  in  Response  to  M. 
Romero's  Letter  .        V       ,.      •  .        .         .       '.        .     367 
An  Answer  from  Senor  Romero        .  .       .         .:        .         .        .     367 

Letter  of  December  16,  1893,  from  Senor  Romero,  in 
Response  to  F.  O.  and  J.  P.  Harriman's  Letters  to  the 
Editor  of  the  India-Rubber  World  .  -  ,•  .  .  367 


INDIA-RUBBER  CULTURE  IN  MEXICO         *  371 

Introduction          .        .        .        .        .        ...        .        .  373 

India-Rubber  Culture  in  Mexico  .         .         .     •    .       ......       .  377 

I.  Introduction «        .         .  377 

II.  Description  of  the  Rubber-Tree — Botanical  Name — Chemi- 
cal Analysis — Specific  Gravity  of  Rubber — When  Rubber 

was  First  Used— Vulcanized  Rubber          ...         .  378 
III.  Importance  of  Rubber  as  a  Raw  Material     .        .        .        .381 

IV.  Profits  of  the  Culture  of  the  Rubber-Tree    .        .        .        .  382 

V.  Proper  Conditions  to  Form  a  Plantation  of  Rubber-Trees  383 

1.  Climate   and   Land    Best  Adapted  to  the  Culture  of  the 
Rubber-Tree      .         .        .         .         .        .         •  •'..--      •  385 

2.  How  to  Form  a  Plantation  of  Rubber-Trees     .        .        .  386 

3.  The  Rubber-Tree  must  be  Planted  in  the  Sun  .        ,*         •  38& 

4.  Distance  Needed  in  Planting  Rubber-Trees      ...  389 

5.  Care  Required  for  the  Culture  of  the  Rubber-Tree       .  389 

6.  Time  Required  for  the  Tree  to  Produce  Rubber      .        .  390 

7.  Quantity  of  Rubber  that  Each  Tree  can  Yield         .        .391 

8.  Method  of  Extracting   Rubber   without   Destroying  the 
Tree .         .        .        .         .  392 

VI.  Probable  Cost  of  a  Plantation  of  Rubber-Trees    .        .        -393 


Contents. 


VII.  Information  relating  to  rubber  in  the  Province  of  Para, 

in  Brazil.         .        ^        .         .         .         .         ,         .         .     395 

Letter  of  September  26,  1872,  from  Mr.  Romero  to  James 
B.  Bond,  Esq.,  Inquiring  about  the  Cultivation  of  Rub- 
ber in  Para,  Brazil  .  .         ...         .         .     396 

Mr.  James  B.  Bond's  Answer  of  October  22,  1872,10  Mr. 

Romero's  Letter,  Giving  the  Information  Asked     .         .     396 
VIII.  Data  on  the  Rubber  of  Assam,  in  Asia      .         .         .        .     398 

IX.  Statistical  Data  relating  to  Rubber     .....     400 

Export  of  Rubber  from  Para  from  1851  to  1870    .        »    401 
X.  Conclusion  .         .        .  .        .         .         .         .         .     402 

APPENDIX    ...         .        .     403 

Letter  of  January  21,  1873,  of  Charles  M.  Travis,  U.  S.  Consul, 
to  M.  Romero  at  Tapachula,  Mexico,  Dated  at  Para,  Brazil, 
Enclosing  Letter  from  James  B.  Bond  relating  to  India- 
Rubber  Culture  in  Brazil  .....  .  .  .  403 

Letter  from  James  B.  Bond,  Dated  at  Para,  Brazil,  January  8, 
1873,  Answering  M.  Romero's  Questions  to  Charles  M. 
Travis  about  India-  Rubber  Culture  .  .  .  .  .  403 

Letter  from  James  B.  Bond,  Dated  at  New  York  on  February  26, 
1873,  to  M.  Romero,  in  Mexico,  Giving  him  Permission  to 
Publish  his  Previous  Letter  ,  .  .  .  .  .  405 

Letter  from  Dr.  Edgar  Zeh  to  Editor  of  the  India-Rubber  World, 

asking  for  Information  about  Planting  India-Rubber  Trees.  406 

Note  of  the  Editor  of  the  India-Rubber  World,  of  New  York, 
in  the  March  15,  1894,  Number  of  that  Paper,  in  Answer  to  a 
Request  for  Information  by  Dr.  Edgar  Zeh  in  Regard  to 
Planting  India-  Rubber  Trees  in  Mexico,  and  the  Expense 
and  Profits  of  the  Same  .  ....  .  .  ;  406 

Index    ............     413 


GEOGRAPHICAL  AND  STATISTICAL  NOTES 
ON  MEXICO 


GEOGRAPHICAL  AND  STATISTICAL 
NOTES  ON  MEXICO.1 


(Corrected  to  June  30,  1897.) 

FOR  a  long  time  past  I  have  felt  the  need  of  a  short  treatise  con- 
taining geographical  and  statistical  information  about  Mexico, 
to  answer  the  many  queries  received  on  that  subject  by  the  Mexican 
Legation  in  Washington.  A  statistical  abstract  about  Mexico,  such  as 
most  nations  publish  every  year,  is  greatly  needed,  especially  now 
when  the  attention  of  business  men  and  young  men  is  awakening  to  the 
possibilities  of  Mexico.  It  was  partly  with  the  purpose  of  supplying 
that  need  that  I  prepared  this  article,  which  will,  I  hope,  at  least  serve 

1  This  article  first  appeared  in  the  Bulletin  of  the  American  Geographical  Society 
of  New  York  of  December  31,  1896.  A  club  of  the  City  of  Washington  requested 
me,  in  January,  1888,  to  deliver  a  lecture  on  Mexico,  and,  as  I  had  not  time  to  prepare 
one,  I  consented  to  give  an  informal  talk  on  the  subject,  which  I  did  on  January  i6th 
of  that  year.  Most  of  my  talk  was  taken  down  by  a  stenographer,  and  was  the  basis 
of  the  article  which  appeared  in  the  Bulletin  of  the  American  Geographical  Society 
of  New  York.  That  Society  did  me  the  honor  of  electing  me  one  of  its  honorary 
members,  at  the  request  of  Honorable  Frederick  A.  Conkling,  on  January  25,  1870, 
and  I  have  ever  since  felt  that  I  owed  it  a  debt  which  I  could  only  pay  by  sending  it 
a  contribution  about  Mexico.  The  pressure  of  my  official  duties  in  Washington  on 
the  one  hand,  and  my  inability  to  treat  properly  the  many  subjects  connected  with  a 
description  of  Mexico,  added  to  the  difficulty  of  compressing  them  into  a  few  pages  ; 
on  the  other,  delayed  that  work  much  longer  than  I  desired  or  expected.  I  have 
added  considerably  to  this  article  in  the  present  edition,  especially  in  that  part  which 
embraces  statistical  information  about  Mexico,  and  I  am  sure  that  in  so  far  as  concerns 
the  fulness  of  that  information  and  the  most  recent  data,  my  article  stands  above  any 
previous  publication  on  the  subject. 

I 


2       <3eoarapbical  an&  Statistical  Iftotes  on  dDejico, 

to  call  attention  to  that  country,  and  awaken  a  desire  for  reading  other 
and  better  monographs  and  books  on  Mexico  written  by  more  com- 
petent men.  I  have  borrowed  from  the  descriptions  of  others,  espe- 
cially in  what  appears  under  the  heading  of  Geology,  Geography,  and 
Fauna. 


PART  I. 

GEOGRAPHY 


I.    GEOGRAPHY. 


LOCATION,  BOUNDARIES,  AND    AREA. 

Location. — Mexico  is  situated  between  14°  30'  42'  and  32°  42'  north 
latitude,  and  between  86°  46'  8*  and  117°  7'  31*  89  longitude  west 
of  the  meridian  of  Greenwich,  embracing  therefore  18°  n'  18*  of 
latitude  and  30°  21'  23*  89  of  longitude.  It  has  an  area  of  767,326 
square  miles.  It  is  bounded  on  the  north  by  the  United  States  of 
America,  on  the  southeast  by  Guatemala  and  Belize,  on  the  south  and 
west  by  the  Pacific  Ocean,  and  on  the  north  and  east  by  the  Gulf  of 
Mexico  and  the  Carribean  Sea. 

Boundary  with  the  United  States. — The  boundary  with  the  United 
States  is  fixed  by  the  treaties  of  February  2,  1848,  and  December  30, 
1853,  and  begins  at  the  mouth  of  the  Rio  Grande  River  on  the  Gulf 
of  Mexico,  follows  the  river  for  1136  miles,  beyond  El  Paso,  Texas,  to 
the  point  where  it  strikes  parallel  31°  47'  north  latitude,  and  from 
there  runs  along  said  parallel  for  a  distance  of  one  hundred  miles,  and 
thence  south  to  parallel  31°  20'  north  latitude  ;  from  there  west 
along  this  parallel  as  far  as  the  mth  meridian  of  longitude  west  of 
Greenwich  ;  thence  in  a  straight  line  to  a  point  on  the  Colorado  River, 
twenty  English  miles  below  the  junction  of  the  Gila ;  thence  up  the 
middle  of  the  said  River  Colorado  to  the  intersection  with  the  old  line 
between  Upper  and  Lower  California,  and  thence  to  a  point  on  the 
Pacific  Ocean,  distant  one  marine  league  due  south  of  the  southern- 
most point  of  the  Bay  of  San  Diego  ;  the  total  distance  from  El  Paso 
to  the  Pacific  being  674  miles.  The  whole  extent  of  the  boundary  line 
between  the  two  countries  is  1833  miles. 

The  boundary  line  with  the  United  States  runs  from  southeast  to 
northwest,  the  mouth  of  the  Rio  Grande  being  in  25°  57'  14"  74*'  north 
latitude  ;  while  the  line  reaches  on  the  Pacific  latitude  32°  32'  i*  34"' ; 
the  point  where  the  boundary  line  strikes  the  Colorado  River  is  farther 
north,  reaching  32°  42'  of  north  latitude.  Mexico  has,  therefore,  on 
the  western,  or  Pacific  side,  6°  34'  46'  20"  of  latitude  more  than  on  the 
eastern  or  the  Gulf  of  Mexico  side. 


6  Geograpbtcal  motes  on  fl&ejico, 

Boundary  with  Guatemala. — The  boundary  with  Guatemala  is  fixed 
by  the  treaties  of  September  27,  1882,  and  April  i,  1895,  and  runs  from 
a  point  on  the  Pacific  coast  three  leagues  distant  from  the  upper  mouth 
of  the  River  Zuchiate,  and  thence,  following  the  deepest  channel 
thereof,  to  the  point  at  which  it  intersects  the  vertical  plane  which 
crosses  the  highest  point  of  the  volcano  of  Tacana,  and  distant  twenty- 
five  miles  from  the  southernmost  pillar  of  the  gate  of  Talquian,  leav- 
ing that  gate  in  the  territory  of  Guatemala  ;  the  determinate  line  by 
the  vertical  plane  defined  above  until  it  touches  the  River  Zuchiate  at 
the  point  of  its  intersection  with  the  vertical  plane  which  passes  the 
summit  of  Buenavista  and  Ixbul ;  the  determinate  line  by  the  vertical 
plane  which  passes  the  summit  of  Buenavista,  determined  by  the  astro- 
nomical observations,  and  the  summit  of  the  Ixbul  hill  from  where  it 
intersects  the  former  to  a  point  four  kilometres  beyond  said  hill  ; 
thence  to  the  parallel  of  latitude  which  crosses  the  last-named  point, 
and  thence  eastward  until  it  reaches  the  deepest  channel  of  the  Chixoy 
up  to  its  junction  with  the  Usumacinta  River,  following  that  river 
until  it  reaches  the  parallel  situated  twenty-five  kilometres  to  the  south 
of  Tenosique  in  Tabasco,  to  be  measured  from  the  principal  square  of 
that  town  ;  the  parallel  of  latitude  referred  to  above,  from  its  inter- 
section with  the  deepest  channel  of  the  Usumacinta,  until  it  intersects 
the  meridian  which  passes  at  one  third  of  the  distance  between  the 
centres  of  the  Plazas  of  Tenosique  and  Sacluc,  this  distance  being 
calculated  from  Tenosique ;  from  this  meridian,  from  its  intersection 
with  the  parallel  above  mentioned  to  the  latitude  of  17°  49'  ;  and  from 
the  intersection  of  this  parallel  with  the  latter  meridian  indefinitely 
toward  the  east. 

The  southern  end  of  the  Guatemalan  line  on  the  Pacific  is  in  14°  24' 
north  latitude,  while  the  northern  end,  on  the  Caribbean  Sea,  is  in  17° 
49'  north  latitude,  being  a  difference  of  3°  25'  in  favor  of  the  latter. 
The  calculated  length  of  the  southern  boundary  is  642  miles. 

Boundary  with  Belize. — To  the  southeast  of  Yucatan  extends  the 
territory  of  Belize,  occupied  by  a  British  settlement  under  a  permit 
granted  to  them  by  the  Spanish  Government  to  cut  wood  within  the 
limits  mentioned  in  the  treaty  concluded  between  the  Kings  of  Great 
Britain  and  Spain  on  November  3,  1783,  and  amended  on  July  14, 
1786. 

British  Honduras,  according  to  Mr.  George  Gil,  F.R.G.S.,  in  his 
book,  "  British  Colonies,"  published  in  London  in  1896,  was  declared 
a  separate  colony  of  Great  Britain,  under  a  Lieutenant-Governor  sub- 
ordinate to  the  Governor  of  Jamaica,  in  the  year  1862,  previous  to 
which  time  it  had  been  a  dependency  of  Jamaica.  In  1884  a  Governor 
and  Commander-in-Chief  was  appointed,  by  Letters  Patent,  and  thus 
the  colony  became  independent  of  Jamaica.  On  April  30,  1859,  Great 


^Location,  Boundaries,  and  Hrea,  7 

Britain  signed  a  treaty  with  Guatemala,  within  whose  boundaries  most  of 
British  Honduras  was  situated,  defining  the  boundary  of  that  colony. 

The  limits  between  Mexico  and  Belize  are  defined  by  a  treaty  signed 
at  the  City  of  Mexico  on  July  8,  1893,  and  ratified  by  the  Mexican 
Senate  on  April  19,  1897,  and  begin  at  the  mouth  of  Bocalarchica — 
a  strait  which  separates  the  State  of  Yucatan  from  Ambergris  Key 
,and  adjacent  islands,  runs  along  the  centre  of  the  channel  between  said 
islands  and  the  mainland,  in  a  southeasterly  direction,  until  it  reaches 
the  parallel  18°  9'  north  latitude  ;  thence  northwesterly  at  an  equal 
distance  between  two  keys  marked  on  the  map  annexed  to  the  treaty, 
to  meet  the  parallel  18°  10'  north  latitude  ;  thence,  turning  toward  the 
west,  along  the  neighboring  bay,  as  far  as  88°  2'  west  meridian,  thence 
toward  the  north  until  it  reaches  the  parallel  18°  25'  north  latitude, 
thence  it  runs  toward  the  west  as  far  as  meridian  88°  28'  $2"  north,  this 
point  being  the  mouth  of  the  Hondo  River  ;  thence  following  its 
deepest  channel,  passing  to  the  west  of  Albion  Island  and  running  up 
the  Arroyo  Azul  until  the  latter  stream  crosses  the  meridian  of  the 
Garbutt  Falls  at  a  point  north  of  the  boundary  lines  of  Mexico, 
Guatemala,  and  British  Honduras  ;  and  from  that  point  following  the 
meridian  of  Garbutt  Falls,  running  in  a  southerly  direction  up  to  17°  49', 
north  latitude  which  is  the  boundary  line  between  Mexico  and  Gua- 
temala, leaving  the  so-called  Snoska  or  Xnobba  River  in  a  northerly 
direction  and  in  Mexican  territory. 

Cession  of  Mexican  Territory  to  the  United  States. — Mexico  has  ceded 
to  the  United  States,  by  the  treaty  of  Guadalupe-Hidalgo  of  February 
2,  1848,  and  the  Gadsden  Treaty  of  December  30,  1853,  930,590  square 
miles,  comprising  over  one-half  of  her  former  territory.  The  same 
cession  is  considered  in  the  United  States  under  three  heads — first 
under  the  boundary  treaty  signed  in  Washington  on  April  25,  1838, 
^between  the  United  States  of  America  and  the  Republic  of  Texas, 
under  which  Texas  was  annexed  to  the  United  States  in  1845;  second, 
under  the  cession  of  the  Guadalupe-Hidalgo  Treaty,  and  the  third 
under  the  Gadsden  Treaty. 

As  Mexico  did  not  recognize  the  independence  of  Texas  until  the 
treaty  of  Guadalupe-Hidalgo  was  signed,  we  consider  that  she  only 
gave  her  consent  to  that  annexation  by  said  treaty,  and  therefore  that  the 
•cession  of  territory  made  then  to  the  United  States  embraced  also  Texas. 

Mr.  S.  W.  Lamoreaux,  former  Commissioner  of  the  General  Land 
Office,  published  in  1896  a  map  of  the  United  States,  which  contained 
in  detail  the  different  sections  of  territory  annexed  to  the  same  in  dif- 
ferent periods  from  France,  Spain,  Mexico,  and  Russia,  where  the 
Mexican  annexations  are  clearly  defined.  From  official  data  of  that 
office,  I  take  the  following  figures  representing  the  area  of  each  of 
the  Mexican  cessions  : 


8  (Beograpbical  Botes  on 

First,  annexation  of  Texas,  which  embraces  in  whole  or  in  part  the 
following  States  and  Territories  : 

Sq.  Miles. 

Texas 265,780 

Colorado,  in  part 18,000 

Kansas,  in  part 7,766 

New  Mexico 65,201 

Oklahoma 5,74° 


Total 362,487 

Second,  cession  by  the  Guadalupe-Hidalgo  Treaty,  em- 
bracing in  whole  or  in  part  the  following  States  and  Terri- 
tories : 

Sq.  Miles. 

Arizona 82,381 

California 157,801 

Colorado,  in  part 29,500 

Nevada 1 1 2,090 

New  Mexico 42,000 

Utah 84,476 

Wyoming,  in  part 14,320 

Total 522,568 

Third,  cession  by  the  Gadsden  Treaty,  containing  ad- 
ditions to  the  following  Territories  : 

Sq.  Miles. 

Arizona 3*,535 

New  Mexico 14,000 


Total 45,535 

Grand  Total  in  Square  Miles 930,590 

General  Characteristics. — Mexico  is  bounded  on  the  east  by  the 
long  curve  of  the  Gulf  of  Mexico  and  by  the  Caribbean  Sea,  and  its 
eastern  coast  is  1727  miles  long;  on  the  west  it  is  washed  by  the 
Pacific  Ocean,  its  coast  describing  the  arc  of  a  still  larger  circle,  for  a 
length  of  4574  miles  ;  but  after  passing  the  latitude  of  the  City  of 
Mexico,  about  the  meridian  19°  of  north  latitude,  going  south,  the 
continent  makes  a  decided  turn  towards  the  east,  the  Gulf  of  Mexico 
forming  the  northern  border,  and  the  Pacific  Ocean  the  southern 
border. 

Mexico  has  the  shape  of  a  cornucopia,  with  its  narrowest  end 
tapering  toward  the  southwest,  its  convex  and  concave  sides  facing 


^Location,  Boundaries,  anfc  Brea.  ^ 

the  Pacific  and  the  Atlantic,  respectively,  and  its  widest  end  toward 
the  north,  or  the  United  States.  I  look  forward  to  the  time,  which  I 
do  not  think  far  distant,  considering  our  continuity  of  territory  to  the 
United  States  and  our  immense  elements  of  wealth,  when  we  shall  be 
able  to  provide  the  United  States  with  most  of  the  tropical  products, 
such  as  sugar,  coffee,  tobacco,  india-rubber,  etc.,1  which  they  now  im- 
port from  several  other  countries. 

The  widest  portion  of  Mexico  is,  therefore,  its  northern  extremity, 
or  its  boundary  with  the  United  States.  The  narrowest  point  is  the 
Isthmus  of  Tehuantepec,  about  one  hundred  miles  from  one  ocean  to 
the  other  ;  and  after  passing  it  the  country  expands  again  to  the  south- 
east towards  Yucatan  and  Chiapas  until  it  reaches  the  boundary  with 
Guatemala  and  Belize. 

Yucatan  resembles  but  little  in  its  configuration  Mexico  proper,  as 
it  is  a  level  country  formed  by  coral  reefs  and  beds,  and  whose  ruins 
show  it  to  have  been  the  seat  of  a  high  civilization  and  an  advanced 
people. 

Although  the  greater  part  of  Mexico  is  on  the  North  American  con- 
tinent proper,  as  the  Isthmus  of  Panama  divides  North  from  South 
America,  a  large  portion  of  it  lies  in  Central  America.  Geographically 
speaking,  Central  America  is  the  portion  of  North  America  embraced 
between  the  Isthmus  of  Tehuantepec  and  Panama,  and  of  this  vast 
territory  Mexico  holds  about  one-third.  In  a  paper  published  in  the 
Bulletin  of  the  American  Geographical  Society  of  New  York,  of  March 
31,  1894,  I  dealt  especially  with  this  subject.2 

The  broken  surface  of  Mexico  formerly  made  travelling  there  very 
difficult,  for  which  reason  the  country  was  but  little  known,  even  by 
Mexicans  themselves,  as  its  configuration  did  not  allow  of  the  building 
of  good  roads,  and  to  travel  any  considerable  distance  it  was  necessary 
to  go  by  mule  paths,  without  comfortable  inns,  and  running  great  risks,, 
owing  to  the  disturbed  condition  of  the  country.  It  required,  there- 
fore, time,  expense,  endurance,  and  an  object  in  view  to  travel  widely 
there.  I  was  always  desirous  of  knowing  as  much  as  possible  of  the 
country,  and  I  have  made  long  trips,  many  of  them  on  horseback, 
solely  for  the  purpose  of  studying  certain  regions,  and  I  think  that 
before  the  railway  era,  I  was  perhaps  one  of  the  Mexicans  who  knew 

1  In  his  Notes  on  Mexico,  Lempriere,  a  distinguished  traveller  and  historian,  says : 
"  The  merciful  hand  of  Providence  has  bestowed  on  the  Mexicans  a  magnificent  land, 
abounding  in  resources  of  all  kinds — a  land  where  none  ought  to  be  poor,  and  where 
misery  ought  to  be  unknown — a  land  whose  products  and  riches  of  every  kind  are 
abundant  and  as  varied  as  they  are  rich.     It  is  a  country  endowed  to  profusion  with 
every  gift  that  man  can  desire  or  envy  ;  all  the  metals  from  gold  to  lead  ;  every  sort 
of  climate,  from  perpetual  snow  to  tropical  heat,  and  of  inconceivable  fertility." 

2  A  copy  of  that  paper  is  appended  to  this  article. 


io  Geoarapbical  IRotes  on  flDejico, 

most  of  the  country  and  who  could,  therefore,  most  clearly  realize  the 
difficulty  of  knowing  it  thoroughly.  From  this  it  can  be  readily  under- 
stood how  difficult  it  would  be  for  a  foreigner,  without  any  previous 
knowledge  of  the  country  and  ignorant  of  its  language,  to  know  it  by 
a  few  days'  sojourn  there.  Yet  many  travellers  who  have  been  in 
Mexico  only  a  few  days  write  about  it  on  their  return  home,  just  as  if 
they  knew  it  perfectly,  making  necessarily  many  serious  and  sometimes 
laughable  mistakes. 

The  natural  beauties  of  Switzerland  are  well  known  ;  but  to  me  that 
country  is  hardly  to  be  compared  with  Mexico,  as  everything  in  Mexico 
is  on  a  much  grander  scale.  In  the  latitude  in  which  Switzerland  is 
situated  the  snow  line  is  quite  low,  and,  therefore,  most  of  the  peaks  of 
the  Swiss  mountains,  while  not  so  high  as  the  Mexican  mountains,  are 
covered  with  perpetual  snow,  which  embellishes  the  country,  and  which, 
melting  in  summer,  supplies  the  beautiful  lakes  of  that  country  with 
fresh  water.  Therefore,  only  in  the  beauty  of  many  snow  peaks, 
beautiful  fresh-water  lakes,  good  roads,  and  fine  hotels  has  Switzerland 
the  superiority  over  Mexico. 

Historians,  travellers,  and  writers  of  the  present  day  compare  Mexico 
with  Egypt.  There  is  no  doubt  that  between  the  legends  and  romance 
with  which  the  history  of  each  of  these  countries  abounds  there  is  a 
striking  resemblance.  The  pyramids  and  ancient  relics  in  the  form  of 
buildings,  images,  and  undeciphered  hieroglyphics  on  stones,  coins, 
etc.,  found  in  both  countries,  all  contribute  to  the  general  belief  that, 
centuries  ago,  the  people  of  Mexico  and  Egypt  were  connected  by 
some  tie,  were  in  some  way  of  the  same  race  and  had  the  same  ideas. 
To-day  in  Mexico,  the  manner  of  living,  of  cultivating  the  soil,  and 
many  other  peculiarities  in  the  manners  and  customs  of  the  Mexican 
people  forcibly  remind  the  traveller  of  Upper  and  Lower  Egypt.1 

1  In  a  very  bright  article  about  Mexico  by  Mr.  Charles  Dudley  Warner,  published 
in  Harper's  Illustrated  Monthly  Magazine  for  June,  1897, 1  find  the  following  sentence 
supporting  my  assertion  : 

"  In  the  cities  he  is  reminded  of  Spain,  and  often  of  Italy  (since  the  Catholic  Church 
prevails),  but  in  the  country  and  in  small  towns  the  appearance  is  Oriental,  or  rather 
Egyptian.  This  resemblance  to  Egypt  is  due  to  the  color  or  colors  of  the  inhabitants, 
to  the  universal  use  of  the  donkey  as  a  beast  of  burden,  to  the  brown  adobe  walls  and 
mud  huts  covered  with  cane,  to  the  dust  on  the  foliage,  the  clouds  of  dust  raised 
in  all  the  highways,  and  to  a  certain  similarity  of  dress,  so  far  as  color  and  rags  can 
give  it,  and  the  ability  of  men  and  women  to  squat  all  day  on  the  ground  and  be 
happy." 

Mr.  Theodore  W.  Noyes,  of  Washington,  in  a  descriptive  article  on  Mexico,  pub- 
lished in  December,  1895,  makes  the  following  parallel  between  Mexico  and  Egypt : 

44  .  .  .  The  Egyptian  shaduf  finds  its  counterpart  in  the  well  sweep  of  Irapuato 
where  strawberries  are  grown  and  sold  every  day  in  the  year,  and  where  irrigation  is 
resorted  to,  systematized,  and  on  a  grand  scale.  In  the  absence  of  trees  and  rocks 


^Location,  Boundaries,  an&  Brea.  n 

I,  myself,  although  I  have  only  visited  Lower  Egypt,  and  that  as  a 
tourist  in  a  very  hasty  manner  and  for  a  very  few  days,  was  greatly 
struck  by  the  great  similarity  that  I  found  between  the  two  countries 
and  between  the  habits  of  the  native  Egyptian  and  the  Mexican  In- 
dians. The  Egyptian  plows  are  used  by  the  Mexican  Indians,  and 
they  are  drawn  in  Mexico  as  in  Egypt  by  oxen  whose  yokes  are  fast- 
ened to  their  horns,  while  in  other  countries  they  are  fastened  on  their 
necks.  Several  of  the  agricultural  products  of  Egypt  and  Mexico  are 
exactly  the  same,  and  the  way  in  which  foods  are  prepared  in  both 
countries  is,  too,  very  similar ;  and  I  also  found  similar  traits  and 
race  characteristics  between  the  Egyptian  Copts  and  some  tribes  of 
the  Mexican  Indians. 

The  great  difference  between  Egypt  and  Mexico  is  that  Mexico 
lacks  "  irrigation,"  which  has  made  Egypt — that  small  corner  of  the 
earth — the  most  remarkable  and  productive  country  in  the  world. 
Owing  to  the  great  stretch  of  latitude  from  the  Rio  Grande  to  the 
Guatemala  boundary,  everything  that  grows  in  Egypt,  and  in  fact  in 
any  other  part  of  the  world,  can  be  produced  in  Mexico  by  the  aid  of 
irrigation. 

the  Egyptian  shaduf  is  small,  is  composed  of  prepared  timbers,  and  the  counterpoise 
to  the  well  bucket  is  an  immense  chunk  of  dried,  hardened  Nile  mud.  The  Mexican 
shaduf  utilizes  a  forked  tree  and  swings  across  it  a  long  tapering  tree  trunk  or  branch, 
and  the  counterpoise  consists  of  a  large  sink  stone  or  mass  of  stones  fastened  together. 
Although  Mexico  stretches  farther  south  than  Egypt,  the  two  countries  lie,  generally 
speaking,  between  the  same  parallels  of  latitude,  but  the  altitude  of  Irapuato  is  5000 
feet  above  the  sea-level  of  the  Nile,  so  that  the  same  degree  of  undress  is  not 
expected  or  found  in  the  Mexicans  as  in  the  Egyptian  shaduf  workers.  I  saw,  how- 
ever, in  the  neighborhood  of  Irapuato  two  Indians  at  well  sweeps  working  side  by  side 
who  were  dressed  only  in  white  cotton  loin  cloths,  who  looked  like  the  twin  brothers  of 
shaduf  workers  whom  I  have  seen  photographed  on  the  Nile.  .  .  .  The  water- 
carrier  of  Cairo  is  much  like  his  brother  of  Guanajuato,  where  a  long  earthen  jar  is 
used.  The  groups  about  the  fountains  with  jars  of  water  bodily  borne  on  the  women's 
heads  or  on  a  protecting  turban-like  ring,  or  balanced  on  the  men's  shoulders,  are  also 
Oriental.  Corn  is  ground  between  two  stones  in  Asiatic  fashion. 

'*  Egyptian  sand  spouts  are  common.  Also  Egyptian  types  of  domestic  utensils 
of  pottery.  The  Mexican  woman  with  a  baby  at  her  back  securely  fastened  in  the 
reboso,  which  throws  the  infant's  weight  on  the  mother's  shoulders,  is  to  be  compared 
with  the  Egyptian  woman  whose  reboso  covers  her  face  while  the  child  straddles  her 
shoulders,  holding  to  her  head  and  leaving  her  hands  unfettered  as  in  the  Mexican 
fashion.  There  are  no  Egyptian  camels,  but  even  more  numerous  donkeys,  the  patient 
burros.  The  Indian  villages,  either  of  adobe  or  bamboo,  the  thatched  roofs  and  organ 
cactus  fences,  and  alive  with  goats,  donkeys,  or  snarling  curs,  are  African  in  effect. 
There  Aztecs  picture  writings  resemble  the  Egyptian,  the  paper  being  made  from  the 
maguey  instead  of  the  papyrus.  The  Aztecs  employed  captives  on  great  public  works 
as  in  Egypt.  Mexico  thus  has  pyramids  with  much  broader  base  than  those  of  Egypt, 
though  not  nearly  so  high,  and  idols  quite  as  ugly.  Gold  ornaments,  beads,  and  other 
highly  prized  antiquities  are  found  in  the  tombs  as  in  Egypt." 


0eo0rapbical  Hotes  on 


GEOLOGY. 

The  geology  of  Mexico  has  been  but  imperfectly  studied.  In  the 
higher  ranges  the  prevailing  formations  are  granite,  which  seem  also 
to  form  the  foundations  of  the  plateaus,  above  which  rise  the  traps, 
basalts,  mineral-bearing  porphyries,  and  more  recent  lavas.  Hence, 
Lyell's  theory  that  Mexico  consisted  originally  of  granite  ranges  with 
intervening  valleys  subsequently  filled  up  to  the  level  of  the  plateaus 
by  subterranean  eruptions.  Igneous  rocks  of  every  geologic  epoch  cer- 
tainly form  to  a  large  extent  the  superstructure  of  the  central  plateau. 
But  the  Mexican  table-land  seems  to  consist  mainly  of  metamorphic 
formations  which  have  been  partly  upheaved,  partly  interpenetrated, 
and  overlaid  by  igneous  masses  of  all  epochs,  and  which  are  chiefly 
represented  by  shales,  greywacke,  greenstones,  silicious  schists,  and 
especially  unfossiliferous  limestones.  All  these  formations  are  alike 
remarkable  for  the  abundance  and  variety  of  their  metalliferous  ores, 
such  as  silver,  silver  glance,  copper,  and  gold.  Gneiss  and  micaceous 
schists  prevail  in  Oaxaca  and  on  all  the  southern  slopes  facing  both 
oceans.  But  the  highest  ranges  are  formed  mainly  of  plutonic  and 
volcanic  rocks,  such  as  granites,  syenites,  diorites,  mineral-bearing 
trachytes,  basalts,  porphyries,  obsidian,  pearlstone,  sulphur,  pumice, 
lavas,  tufa,  and  other  recent  volcanic  discharges.  Obsidian  (itzli)  was 
the  chief  material  formerly  used  by  the  natives  in  the  manufacture  of 
their  cutting  implements,  as  shown  by  the  quarries  of  the  Cerro  de  las 
Navajas  (Knife  Cliff),  near  Real  del  Monte  and  Pachuca  in  the  State 
of  Hidalgo.  Vast  deposits  of  pumice  and  the  purest  sulphur  are  found 
at  Huichapam  and  in  many  of  the  craters.  But  immeasurably  the 
most  valuable  rocks  are  the  argentiferous  porphyries  and  schists  of 
the  central  plateau  and  of  Sinaloa,  unless  they  are  destined  to  be 
rivalled  by  the  auriferous  deposits  of  Sonora.  Horizontal  and  strati- 
fied rocks,  of  extremely  limited  extent  in  the  south,  are  largely  devel- 
oped in  the  northern  states,  and  chalk  becomes  very  prevalent  towards 
the  Rio  Grande  and  Rio  Gila  valleys.  To  this  chalk  and  to  the  sand- 
stones are  probably  due  the  sandy  plains  which  cover  vast  tracts  in 
North  Mexico,  stretching  thence  far  into  New  Mexico  and  Texas. 
Here  the  Bolson  de  Mapimi,  a  vast  rocky  wilderness  inhabited  until 
recently  by  wild  tribes,  occupies  a  space  of  perhaps  50,000  square 
miles  in  Coahuila  and  parts  of  the  surrounding  States. 

None  of  the  horizontal  layers  seem  to  be  very  rich  in  ores,  which 
are  mainly  found  in  the  metamorphic,  palaeozoic,  and  hypogene  rocks 
of  Durango,  Chihuahua,  and  the  south.  Apart  from  Sinaloa  and 
Sonora,  which  are  now  known  to  contain  vast  stores  of  the  precious 
metals,  nearly  all  the  historical  mines  lie  on  the  south  central  plateau  at 
elevations  of  from  5500  to  9500  feet.  A  line  drawn  from  the  capital  to 
Guanajuato,  and  thence  northwards  to  the  mining  town  of  Guadalupe 


13 

y  Calvo  of  Chihuahua,  and  southwards  to  Oaxaca,  thus  cutting  the 
main  axis  of  upheaval  at  an  angle  of  45°,  will  intersect  probably  the 
richest  known  argentiferous  region  in  the  whole  world. 

Of  other  minerals  the  most  important  are  copper,  found  in  a  pure 
state  near  the  city  of  Guanajuato,  and  associated  with  gold  in  Chihua- 
hua, Sonora,  Guerrero,  Jalisco,  Michoacan,  and  elsewhere ;  iron  in 
immense  masses  in  Michoacan  and  Jalisco,  and  in  Durango,  where  the 
Cerro  del  Mercado  is  a  solid  mountain  of  magnetic  iron  ore  ;  lead 
associated  with  silver,  chiefly  in  Oaxaca  ;  tin  in  Michoacan  and  Jalisco  ; 
sulphur  in  many  craters  ;  platinum,  recently  found  in  Hidalgo  ;  cin- 
nabar, also  recently  found  in  Morelos  and  Guerrero  ;  "  steppe  salt "  in 
the  sandy  districts  of  the  north  ;  "  bitter  salt "  at  Tepeyac  and  many 
other  places  ;  coal  at  various  points  ;  bismuth  in  many  parts  ;  marble, 
alabaster,  gypsum,  and  rock-salt  in  great  abundance  throughout  the 
plateaus  and  the  sierras. 

MINING. 

Mexico  is,  perhaps,  the  richest  mining  country  in  the  world,  and 
the  production  of  silver — notwithstanding  the  imperfect  methods 
and  other  drawbacks  with  which  it  has  contended — represents  over 
one-third  of  the  product  of  the  world,  according  to  official  statis- 
tics. Almost  all  the  mountains  of  Mexico  are  of  the  metalliferous 
character,  but  those  which  seem  richest  in  mining  deposits  are  the 
western  cordillera,  extending  from  the  State  of  Oaxaca  to  Sonora,  a 
distance  of  about  1600  miles  from  northwest  to  southeast. 

Humboldt  gave  as  his  opinion  that  Mexico  would  be  "  the  treasure 
house  of  the  world."  Subsequent  history  has,  in  a  great  measure,  con- 
firmed the  opinion  of  the  great  savant  of  his  time.  Still  a  more  con- 
servative authority  has  quite  lately  asserted  that  only  one-tenth  of 
the  mining  resources  of  Mexico  is  known.  This  last  estimate,  I  am 
sure,  is  inside  rather  than  outside  of  the  facts.  Mexico  has  always 
been  considered  the  great  silver  producer,  and,  considering  her  area, 
and  taking  the  century  as  a  measure,  she  is  the  greatest  silver  producer 
of  the  world. 

Silver. — The  central  group  of  mines  in  the  three  mining  districts  of 
Guanajuato,  Zacatecas,  and  Catorce,  in  the  States  of  Guanajuato,  Zaca- 
tecas  and  San  Luis  Potosi,  which  have  yielded  more  than  half  of  all 
the  silver  heretofore  found  in  Mexico,  lies  between  21°  and  24°  30'  N., 
within  an  area  of  about  13,000  square  miles.  Here  the  Veta  Madre 
lode  of  Guanajuato  alone  produced  $252,000,000  between  1556  and 
1803. 

In  the  beginning  of  this  century  Humboldt  found  two  Guanajuato 
mines — the  famous  "  Conde  de  Valenciana  "  and  the  "  Marques  de 
Rayas  " — producing  annually  550,000  marks,  4,400,000  ounces,  of  silver, 


14  Geo0rapbfcai  wotes  on 

one-seventh  or  one-eighth  of  the  entire  American  output.  From  Janu- 
ary i,  1787,  to  June  n,  1791,  the  Valenciana  yielded  13,896,416  ounces 
of  silver,  its  ore  averaging  a  little  over  100  ounces  to  the  ton.  Though 
flooded,  this  fine  old  mine  is  still  far  from  exhausted. 

Gold  occurs  chiefly,  not  on  the  plateau  in  association  with  silver, 
but  on  the  slopes  facing  the  Pacific,  and  apparently  in  greatest  abun- 
dance in  Sonora,  near  the  auriferous  region  of  Lower  California.  The 
production  would  have  been  larger  if  an  improved  process  of  reducing 
the  metals  had  been  used,  but  during  the  whole  colonial  period  and  up 
to  the  present  time,  we  have  used  the  patio  system,  which  consists  in 
grinding  the  ore,  stirring  it  until  it  is  reduced  to  a  fine  dust  and  mixing 
it  then  with  salt  and  copper  amalgam  ;  after  the  paste  dries  somewhat, 
salt  is  added  in  proportion  to  the  amount  of  silver  supposed  to  be  in  the 
ore  ;  the  material  is  then  mixed  with  shovels  and  trodden  by  mules,  and, 
after  a  day  or  two,  another  mixture  of  copper,  vitriol,  and  salt  is  added  ; 
after  that  it  is  mixed  and  trodden  again  ;  then  quicksilver  is  finally 
added,  and  then  more  mixing  and  treading.  This  process  is  repeated 
from  five  to  fifteen  times  until  the  silver  and  quicksilver  unite  to  form 
an  amalgam,  which  is  gathered  into  bags,  and  that  requires  about  forty 
days.  Most  of  the  quicksilver  is  squeezed  out  and  the  rest  is  evapo- 
rated and  run  off  into  tubs.  This  method  saves  50  or  60  per  cent,  of 
rich  ore  and,  besides  being  very  long,  is  rather  imperfect,  as  it  leaves  a 
great  deal  of  silver  in  the  ore,  and  only  rich  ores  could  be  treated  by  it ; 
but  it  was  on  the  whole  the  easiest  and  cheapest. 

Some  of  the  old  mines  were  worked  until  finally  they  became  so  deep 
that,  with  the  methods  then  used,  as  buckets  were  employed  instead  of 
pumps,  and  steam  had  not  been  employed  as  power,  it  was  impossible 
to  drain  them.  Naturally  in  a  deep  mine  the  water  flows  in  from 
springs,  and  the  deeper  a  mine  becomes  the  more  water  it  has.  These 
mines  were  worked  until  it  was  seen  that  it  was  impossible  to  drain 
them,  and  then  they  were  abandoned,  even  though  they  were  rich  in 
metals.  During  our  war  of  independence  almost  all  the  mines  were 
abandoned  for  the  want  of  guarantee  to  life  and  property,  and  the 
mining  industry,  therefore,  declined  considerably  ;  but  recently  the  old 
mines  have  been  worked  again  and  the  production  of  silver  has  in- 
creased very  considerably.1 

1  Mr.  J.  A.  R.  Waters  of  the  firm  of  Waters  Bros. ,  Mining  Engineers  of  the  City 
of  Mexico,  said  of  his  visit  to  the  Jesus  Maria  District  of  the  State  of  Chihuahu,  where 
he  went  to  examine  the  mine  worked  by  the  Pinos  Altos  Co. ,  as  follows  : 

' '  The  district  is  very  thoroughly  mineralized  and  is  pierced  by  veins  more  frequently 
than  any  district  I  ever  saw.  The  general  formation  is  very  similar  to  that  of  Cripple 
Creek,  with  the  exception  that  it  is  not  traversed  by  the  great  porphyry  dikes  that  occur 
there  and  in  other  parts  of  Colorado.  The  country  formation  is  largely  braccia.  The 
ore  is  generally  free  milling,  and  is  treated  with  stamps  and  pan  amalgamation,  the 
finer  ores  being  treated  with  Huntington  mills.  There  is  little  waste  of  values." 


15 

Real  del  Monte  Company. — It  would  be  interesting  to  refer  briefly  to 
the  ups  and  downs  of  one  of  the  mining  enterprises  of  Mexico — the 
Real  del  Monte — as  a  typical  case  which  exemplifies  what  has  happened 
with  many  other  of  our  mines,  namely,  that  sometimes  they  yield  large 
profits,  and  soon  afterwards  they  cause  tremendous  losses.  The  Real 
del  Monte  is  located  about  three  miles  from  Pachuca,  a  large  mining 
centre  and  the  capital  of  the  State  of  Hidalgo,  distant  about  sixty  miles 
southeast  of  the  City  of  Mexico. 

In  1739,  a  Biscayan,  by  the  name  of  Don  Pedro  Jose  Romero  de  Ter- 
reros,  came  from  Santander  and  settled  in  Queretaro.  He  acquired 
a  fortune  of  $60,000  in  a  small  store  in  1749,  closed  up  his  affairs,  and 
started  to  return  to  his  native  land.  On  reaching  Pachuca  he  met  an 
old  mining  friend,  Don  Jose  Alejandro  Bustamante,  who  called  his 
attention  to  the  Real  del  Monte.  In  company  with  Bustamante  he 
staked  out  the  Biscaina,  Santa  Brigida,  and  Guadalupe  mines  and  began 
to  get  the  water  out,  but  they  soon  exhausted  their  united  funds.  How- 
ever, they  succeeded  in  raising  money  in  the  City  of  Mexico  on  hard 
terms  and  drained  their  properties  by  a  tunnel,  which  started  at  Moran, 
on  the  northern  slope  of  the  mountains,  and,  running  9000  feet  through 
hard  porphyry  rock,  struck  the  vein  at  a  depth  of  600  feet.  This  was 
accomplished  a  few  years  later  in  1759.  Bustamante  by  this  time  had 
died,  but  Terreros  continued  the  work.  On  striking  the  vein  he  drained 
it,  and  in  1760  began  the  erection  of  the  Hacienda  de  Regla,  to  work 
the  rich  ore  he  was  taking  out.  He  took  out  $15,000,000  at  a  small 
cost,  repaid  his  advances,  built  and  presented  to  the  King  of  Spain 
a  man-of-war  and  4700  bars  of  silver,  for  which  he  was  created  Conde 
de  Regla.  He  lived  in  grand  style  in  the  City  of  Mexico,  and  built  a 
palatial  residence  on  Cadena  Street. 

He  died  in  1781,  and  was  succeeded  by  his  son,  the  second  Conde, 
who  from  1774  to  1783  struggled  with  the  water,  which,  as  depth  was 
attained,  was  very  severe  ;  according  to  Ward,  twenty-eight  horse-whims 
were  employed  in  the  drainage  at  great  expense  and  unsuccessfully. 
However,  they  had  gotten  down  to  324  feet  below  the  Moran  adit  on 
the  Biscaina  vein  in  the  Guadalupe  and  Santa  Teresa  shafts.  The 
production  was  $400,000  per  year,  drainage  costing  $250,000  per 
year,  and  sinking  was  abandoned,  and  the  work  was  confined  to 
drifting  above  water  level. 

From  1801  to  1809,  $300,000  per  year  was  taken  out,  but  the  cost 
of  extraction  was  severe.  Humboldt  visited  the  property,  and  in  1810 
the  war  of  independence  broke  out,  and  all  operations  were  suspended. 
Meanwhile  the  water  rose  and  the  Moran  tunnel  caved  in,  and  so 
allowed  the  water  to  rise  to  an  enormous  height,  and  the  district  went 
to  rack  and  ruin. 

In  1822  the  Conde's  administrator,  Don  Ignacio  Castelazo,  made  a 


16  <5eo0rapbfcal  flotes  on 

report,  and  by  his  Italian  mining  friend,  Rivafinoli,  sent  it  to  the 
Conde,  who  was  living  in  England. 

That  country  was  only  too  anxious  to  reap  for  themselves  some  of 
the  spoils  that  Spain  had  gleaned  from  Mexican  mines.  Here  was 
their  opportunity,  many  became  interested,  and  the  celebrated  mining 
expert  of  that  day,  Mr.  John  Taylor,  the  founder  of  the  present  Lon- 
don firm  now  so  heavily  interested  in  South  Africa,  Taylor  Bros.,  was 
sent  to  make  an  examination,  and  in  1824  the  English  Real  del  Monte 
Company  was  formed  on  the  following  terms  : — The  company  leased 
the  mines  and  haciendas  for  twenty-one  years  :  ist.  The  capital  in- 
vested was  to  be  returned  from  the  products  of  the  mines  with  interest ; 
2d.  The  Conde  was  then  to  have  one-half  of  the  remaining  proceeds 
yearly  ;  3d.  Meanwhile  he  was  to  receive  $16,000  per  year  as  an  ad- 
vance against  his  portion  or  anticipated  profits.  In  case  of  failure  of 
this  third  clause  the  lease  would  be  cancelled  and  everything  revert  to 
the  Conde.  As  the  outlay  amounted  to  over  $5,000,000  and  no  profit 
ensued,  it  amounted  to  a  rent  of  $16,000  per  year. 

In  1824  Captain  Vetch,  of  the  Royal  Engineers,  was  sent  out  as 
manager.  He  brought  three  ships  filled  with  one  thousand  tons  of 
machinery,  pumps,  etc.,  and  after  untold  trials  in  transportation  and 
erection,  finally  got  them  to  their  destination.  All  this  was  done  by 
English  engineers,  machinists,  miners,  and  workmen,  nearly  all  Cor- 
nishmen,  under  the  direction  of  Colonel  Colquhoun,  a  Peninsular 
veteran,  who  finally  died  of  yellow  fever  with  over  fifty  of  his  men. 
After  unheard-of  troubles  they  got  everything  by  1826  safely  landed 
in  the  Real  del  Monte.  The  magnitude  of  the  task  may  be  understood 
when  the  almost  roadless  condition  of  the  country  is  considered,  and 
the  bringing  up  of  the  machinery  from  the  coast  was  a  splendid  exam- 
ple of  British  tenacity  and  pluck. 

Captain  Vetch  had  now  cleaned  out  the  Moran  adit  and  the  Dolores 
shaft,  and  the  machinery  was  at  once  erected.  The  stock  now  rose 
from  $500  to  $8000  per  share.  The  Conde  had,  in  the  meanwhile, 
borrowed  money  from  the  company  and  made  the  twenty-one-year 
lease  perpetual,  the  annual  rent  of  $16,000  remaining  in  force. 

By  1829  Captain  Vetch  had  grappled  with  the  water  question,  and 
with  an  annual  cost  of  $30,000  had  accomplished  what  the  first  Count 
had  paid  $250,000  for,and  extracted  metal  324  feet  below  the  Moran  adit. 

Captain  Tindall,  R.N.,  succeeded  Captain  Vetch,  and  a  new  shaft 
(1830)  was  commenced  on  the  Santa  Teresa  and  called  the  Terreros 
shaft.  It  was  1140  feet  to  the  vein  and  was  started  at  four  points,  and 
was  connected  in  1834  by  drifts  run  from  several  levels,  and  then 
raised  and  sunk  on.  The  work  came  out  as  true  as  if  it  had  been 
done  from  the  surface,  thanks  to  the  correctness  of  the  plans  of  the 
English  mine  surveyors. 


/IDfnfng,  17 

A  54-inch  engine  was  erected,  and  with  it  they  sank  to  720  feet 
"below  the  Moran  adit.  At  this  point  water  overpowered  them.  This 
was  in  1838,  and  Captain  John  Rule,  who  had  succeeded  Captain  Tin- 
dall,  put  in  a  75-inch  engine  at  Dolores,  and  removed  the  54-inch  one 
to  Acosta.  Captain  Rule  enjoyed  a  salary  of  ^"10,000  per  year,  and 
all  other  payments  were  in  proportion.  He  struck  two  bunches  of 
rich  ore,  one  on  the  Santa  Brigida,  near  Acosta,  and  the  other  on  La 
Biscains,  near  Dolores.  From  these  two  and  one  at  Torreros  they 
had  produced  $10,481,475  at  a  cost  of  $15,381,633  or  nearly  $5,000,000 
loss  in  twenty-three  years.  By  1846  the  stock  had  fallen  to  $12.50 
from  $8000  a  share. 

In  1848,  Mr.  J.  H.  Buchan  arrived,  representing  the  English  stock- 
holders. He  found  water  in  the  mines  and  increasing  ;  a  heavy  debt 
of  $5,000,000,  bearing  a  tremendous  interest ;  no  money  on  hand  and 
no  ore.  So  in  October,  1848,  by  order  of  the  bondholders  he  turned 
over  the  business  to  a  Mexican  company — the  present  one — composed 
of  Manuel  Escandon,  Antonio  and  Nicanor  Beistegui,  Mr.  Mackintosh, 
and  others  for  the  paltry  sum  of  $130,000.  The  haciendas,  stock,  and 
ores  on  hand  were  worth  millions,  but  the  English  company  could  not 
dispose  of  them. 

This  was  the  end  of  the  famous  English  Real  del  Monte  Company. 
Their  Mexican  successors  reduced  expenses,  completed  the  adit  from 
Omotitlan  commenced  by  the  first  Conde,  which,  running  13,500  feet, 
cut  the  mines  mo  deeper  and  struck  immediately  the  bonanza  in  the 
Rosario,  which  tradition  says  had  previously  been  discovered  and 
covered  up  by  Captain  Rule. 

New  Mines,  Topia. — We  have  now  a  great  many  districts  that  were 
not  known  by  the  Spaniards  and  have  recently  been  discovered.  No- 
table among  them  is  the  Sierra  Mojada  district  in  the  State  of  Coahuila. 
The  State  of  Durango  has,  on  the  west  slope  of  the  Sierra  Madre 
mountains,  the  mining  camps  of  Topia,  Sianori,  Birimoa,  Gusanillas, 
Canelas,  Ventanos,  El  Pando,  Rodeo,  and  San  Fernando  ;  and  with 
the  exception  of  San  Fernando  they  are  close  together,  a  square,  one  of 
whose  sides  is  forty  miles,  would  almost  cover  them  all.  This  section 
has  all  the  elements  to  form  the  basis  of  a  great  mining  and  smelting 
centre,  as  is  evident  by  the  great  deposits  of  galena  in  the  Topia  dis- 
trict ;  in  fact,  this  is  the  only  place  on  the  coast  where  lead  ore  is 
found  in  abundance  ;  and  smelting,  if  done  at  all,  must  rely  on  Topia 
for  its  supply  of  lead  ores.  In  no  other  part  of  Mexico  are  lead  ores 
so  cheap,  because  of  the  fact  that  to  realize  on  them  at  all  they  must 
be  transported  on  mule-back  to  Culiacan  in  the  State  of  Sinaloa,  a  dis- 
tance of  106  miles,  at  a  rate  of  $26.40  silver  per  ton,  and  from  there 
by  rail  to  Altata,  a  distance  of  thirty-nine  miles  ;  and  from  Altata  by 
steamer  to  San  Francisco,  or  to  Guaymas,  and  thence  by  rail  to  the 


1 8  Oeoarapbical  motes  on 

smelters  in  the  United  States,  very  much  at  the  same  cost.  La 
Liona  mine  of  this  district  is  a  very  rich  mine,  its  vein  being  almost 
vertical,  and  is  tapped  from  both  sides  of  the  mountain,  with  tunnels 
at  right  angles  to  the  vein.  Where  the  tunnels  intersect  the  vein,  the 
vein  is  driven  on  in  both  directions  from  the  tunnels  ;  stopes  are 
opened,  and  chute's  for  ore  are  put  in  every  seventy-five  feet.  The 
vertical  distance  between  the  tunnels  is  125  metres.  This  mine  can 
easily  produce  one  thousand  tons  per  month  of  clean  galena,  and 
would  produce  that  much  metal  if  there  was  a  market  for  it. 

There  are  other  mines  as  large  and  perhaps  better  than  La  Liona,  as, 
for  instance,  La  Madrugada  mine,  formerly  owned  by  Santa  F£  Railroad 
employees,  but  now  controlled  by  Mr.  Charles  Miller,  of  Franklin,  Pa., 
connected  with  the  Standard  Oil  Company.  Topia  is  a  great  dry-ore 
camp  as  well.  One  thousand  tons  of  dry  ores  can  easily  be  mined 
there  per  month,  were  there  a  market  for  them,  such  as  a  commercial 
smelter  located  centrally  to  treat  the  ores  of  this  and  adjoining  districts. 
Such  smelter  would  have  the  advantage  of  an  inexhaustible  supply  of 
good  water  the  year  round,  fine  iron  ore,  and  limestone  for  fluxes. 

At  Topia  there  are  four  mills  for  the  treatment  of  zincy  ores,  and 
dry  ores  assaying  below  one  hundred  ounces  silver  per  ton.  The 
lixiviation  process  by  hyposulphite  of  soda  is  employed  in  the  four 
mills  or  haciendas,  two  of  them  employ  occasionally  the  patio  process 
as  well.  Two  of  the  mills  and  two  mines  are  lighted  by  electricity  ; 
the  dynamo  that  furnishes  light  for  one  of  the  mills'  and  both  of  the 
mines  is  driven  by  water  power.  Below  the  mills  operated  by  water 
power,  there  is  sufficient  fall  and  sufficient  water  to  furnish  the  power 
to  operate  compressed-air  drills  in  all  the  large  mines. 

The  other  mining  camps  of  this  district,  although  not  so  well  devel- 
oped as  Topia,  are  also  in  process  of  development  and  in  a  very  good 
condition.  Velardena  is  also  in  the  State  of  Durango,  but  on  the  other 
or  eastern  side  of  the  mountains,  and  is  located  in  a  comparatively  new 
district,  where  the  previous  owners  had  failed.  Mr.  James  F.  Mathews 
purchased  the  Velardena  property,  erected  a  smelter  after  the  Interna- 
tional Railroad  Company  had  extended  their  main  line  from  Torreon 
to  the  city  of  Durango,  passing  near  the  mine,  and  from  the  beginning 
has  run  five  of  the  six  furnaces  almost  continuously.  During  1896  the 
Velardena  smelter  smelted  on  an  average  175  tons  of  ore  per  day. 

Li  Hung  Chang  and  the  Mexican  Silver  Mines. — When  Li  Hung 
Chang,  the  Chinese  Viceroy,  was  in  Washington,  in  August,  1896,  he 
inquired  of  me  about  the  production  of  the  Mexican  mines,  and  I,  trying 
to  be  conservative,  informed  him  that  they  produced  about  $50,000,- 
ooo  a  year.  He  then  inquired  how  long  they  would  continue  yielding 
that  amount.  I  answered  that  it  was  uncertain,  but  that,  judging  from 
present  appearances,  it  could  safely  be  said  that  it  might  be  for  one 


/HMning*  J9 

hundred  years.  This  seemed  incredible  to  him,  and  he  said  that  I  had 
been  so  long  absent  from  Mexico — for  he  had  previously  asked  me  how 
long  I  had  been  in  this  country — I  could  not  know  the  real  wealth  and 
abundance  of  our  mines,  and  he  was  very  positive  that  I  had  made  a 
mistake.  He  assured  me  that  the  silver  mines  in  China  yielded  occa- 
sionally something,  but  soon  were  exhausted,  and  it  was  impossible  to 
get  any  silver  out  of  them,  and  judging  the  Mexican  silver  mines  from 
those  he  had  seen  at  home,  he  was,  of  course,  incredulous  as  to  their 
yield. 

Some  years  ago,  and  when  the  Mexican  mines  only  yielded  about 
$20,000,000  a  year,  I  predicted  that  their  annual  yield  would  reach 
$100,000,000,  and  that  prediction  is  about  being  verified,  as  the  present 
product  exceeds  $60,000,000. 

Gold. — Gold  was  used  freely  in  Mexico  before  the  Spanish  con- 
quest, and  history  teaches  us  how  Cortez  induced  Montezuma  to 
deliver  to  him  his  gold  treasury. 

As  soon  as  Mexico  was  conquered,  Bernal  Diaz  del  Castillo,  one  of 
the  cotemporary  historians,  tells  us  that  Cortez  inquired  vefy  carefully 
about  the  place  where  the  Indians  obtained  their  gold,  whether  there 
were  placers,  mines,  or  washings,  and  his  agents  were  taken  to  some 
localities  in  the  State  of  Oaxaca,  where  they  were  told  was  the  gold 
supply,  but,  whether  the  Indians  concealed  the  real  location  of  the 
gold  deposits,  or  for  other  reasons,  the  Spaniards  did  not  obtain  much 
gold.  I  have  known  recently  of  unavailing  efforts  having  been  made 
of  persons  from  the  United  States  who  have  tried  to  ascertain  the 
localities  where  the  Indians  obtained  their  gold,  that  is — the  places 
which  were  shown  to  Cortex  in  Oaxaca  as  gold  deposits. 

There  is  a  river  in  the  State  of  Guerrero  which  flows  over  a  coun- 
try with  hills  abundant  in  gold  formation,  which  carries  nuggets  that 
the  natives  find  without  any  difficulty,  and  it  is  called  for  that  reason 
the  Gold  River.  That  river  passes  over  some  mountains  where  gold 
is  found,  and  then  comes  to  a  place  where  a  natural  dam  is  formed, 
and  the  gold  carried  by  the  washings  in  the  rainy  season  sinks  when 
reaching  that  place,  and  every  indication  shows  that  there  must  be  a 
very  large  deposit  of  gold  there.  A  military  engineer  suggested,  the 
last  time  I  was  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  in  Mexico,  that  the  bed  of 
the  river  be  changed  by  the  Mexican  Government,  a  work  which  did 
not  present  serious  obstacles,  and  thus  allow  excavations  to  be  made 
and  the  gold  deposits  found.  It  was  thought  advisable  to  make  some 
preliminary  examinations  in  the  way  of  boring,  and  for  that  purpose 
the  necessary  orders  were  issued  to  send  soldiers  there,  but  I  under- 
stand the  project  was  given  up  and  nothing  was  accomplished.  I  have 
no  doubt  that  at  some  future  time  that  matter  will  be  taken  up,  and  a 
great  deal  of  gold  will  be  found  there. 


20  Oeogtapbical  Botes  on  flDejico, 

Our  production  of  gold  has  so  far  been  comparatively  small,  be- 
cause the  mining  and  reduction  of  gold  are  more  difficult  and  expensive 
than  the  same  operations  in  silver,  and  our  gold  production  has  really 
been  the  amount  of  gold  which  has  been  found  in  our  silver.  For 
many  years,  when  the  amount  was  small,  it  was  not  separated,  and  for 
that  reason  old  Mexican  dollars  have  in  China  greater  value  than  newly 
coined  ones;  but  recent  improvements  have  made  it  easy  and  cheap  to 
make  the  separation  of  the  two  metals.  Now  that  gold  has  risen  so 
much  in  value,  its  mining  is  beginning  to  be  developed  in  Mexico  on  a 
comparatively  large  scale,  and  I  have  no  doubt  that  before  long 
Mexico  will  be  one  of  the  largest  gold  producers  of  the  world. 

Mexico  is  an  undeveloped  country,  in  fact  there  are  parts  of 
Mexico  as  unknown  as  was  Central  Africa  a  few  years  back.  From 
the  Sonora  gold  district,  south,  on  the  west  side  of  the  Sierra  Madre, 
to  the  State  of  Oaxaca,  there  is  a  gold  belt  as  rich  as  California,  Alaska, 
and  South  Africa  combined.  It  is  known  that  in  the  State  of  Sinaloa 
there  are  gold  placers  and  gold  washings,  and  that  they  are  also  found 
in  every  State  from  there  south  on  the  line  of  this  belt.1 

The  gold  output  of  Sonora,  now  beginning  to  attract  attention,  is 
only  the  first  contribution  of  Mexico  to  the  world's  stock  of  the  yellow 
metal.  The  west  side  of  the  Sierra  Madre  has  a  belt  rich  in  gold,  and 
when  the  world  discovers  this  fact  capital  will  flock  to  Mexico  to  dig 
it  out,  and  Mexico  will  become  one  of  the  first  gold  producers  of  the 
world,  as  she  has  been  in  silver. 

Specimens  of  "  float "  rich  in  gold  have  been  brought  from  the  State 
of  Guerrero.  These  indications  of  gold  have  not  been  followed  up, 
because  no  one  has  been  progressive  enough  to  advance  the  means 
necessary  to  prospect  this  belt.  To  prospect  in  a  country  where  often 
water  fit  to  drink  must  be  carried,  where  food  for  man  and  beast  must 
be  carried,  and  where  in  many  places  roads  must  be  cut  with  machete 
and  axe,  cannot  be  done  without  the  spending  of  money  in  outfit  and 
expenses. 

The  principal  gold-producing  States  will  be  Sonora,  Sinaloa,  Guer- 
rero, and  Oaxaca,  but  in  all  of  them  gold-mining  is  yet  in  its 
beginning. 

1  I  take  from  a  report  of  Mr.  Cramer,  a  mining  engineer  sent  to  Mexico  by  the 
Geological  Society  of  Washington,  D.  CM  as  Commissioner  to  explore  the  gold  fields  of 
that  Republic,  the  following,  which  refers  to  only  one  of  the  many  new  gold  fields  that 
are  being  found  there  : 

"  There  exists  an  extensive  '  gold  placer '  situated  about  thirty  miles  from  Durango 
in  the  mountain  devoid  of  vegetation  ;  the  rock  that  is  found  in  greater  quantities  is 
porphyry.  I  estimate  that  one  ton  of  ore  will  yield  at  least  $50  of  gold. 

"  Gold  is  found  all  over  the  mountain,  though  in  such  imperceptible  filaments 
that  it  is  hard  to  recognize  it  with  the  naked  eye  ;  however,  every  piece  of  stone  con- 
tains the  same  proportion  of  gold." 


21 


Coinage  of  the  Precious  Metals. — Mexico  has  produced  about  one- 
half  of  the  silver  supply  of  the  world.  In  the  statistical  portion  of  this 
paper  I  shall  give  full  details  of  the  production  of  gold  and  silver  in 
Mexico,  coinage,  etc.,  and  here  I  will  only  append  the  total  coinage  of 
gold  and  silver  according  to  official  statistics  of  the  Mexican  Govern- 
ment, which  is  the  following  : 

COINAGE    OF    MEXICO     FROM     THE     ESTABLISHMENT     OF     THE    MINTS    IN 
I537    TO    THE    EN]D    OF    THE    FISCAL    YEAR    OF    1896. 


COLONIAL    EPOCH. 
Pillar  coin  1732  to  1771  

GOLD. 

SILVER. 

COPPER. 

TOTAL. 

$  8,497,950 
19,889,014 

$     752,067,456 
441,629,211 

$     200,000 

$     76o,765,406 
461,518,225 

INDEPENDENCE. 

40,391,447 
$68,778,411 

888,563,989 
$2,082,260,656 

342,893 
$     542,893 

929,298,329 
$2,151,581,960 

$       557,392 
45,040,628 

$       18,575,569 
740,246,485 

$       19,132,961 
790,522,290 

$5,235,177 

REPUBLIC. 

Eagle  coin,  from  i  July,  1873,  to  3°  June,  1896  

$45,598,020 

$     758,822,054 

$5,235,177 

$     809,655,251 

$11,561,080 

$     557,581,690 

$     203,296 

$    569,346,066 

SUMMARY. 


Colonial  Epoch ..  .1537  to  1821 $2,151,581,960 

Independence 1822  to  1873 809,655,251 

Republic 1873  to  1896 569,346,066 


Total $3,530,583,277 

Iron. — Iron,  the  most  useful  of  all  the  metals,  is  found  in  such  vast 
abundance  in  Mexico  that,  could  it  be  even  partially  utilized,  that  Re- 
public would  become  one  of  the  wealthiest  of  modern  communities. 
One  of  the  largest  mines  was  discovered  by  Gines  Vazquez  del  Mer- 
cado,  in  Durango,  in  1562,  and  its  appellation  of  "  Cerro  del  Mercado" 
still  preserves  his  name.  The  hill,  which  is  4800  feet  long  by  uoo  feet 
in  width  and  640  feet  in  height,  is  almost  a  solid  mass  of  mineral,  aver- 
aging about  seventy  per  cent,  of  metal  and  from  which  could  be  ex- 
tracted more  than  300,000,000  tons  of  solid  ore  ;  this  only  to  the  level  of 
the  plain,  beneath  which  it  probably  extends  to  an  unknown  depth. 

The  iron  is  also  magnetic  to  a  high  degree  and  its  power  is  greater 
when  the  grain  is  fine.  This  may  delay  fusion,  but  the  result  is  an  ex- 
cellent wrought  iron,  with  none  of  the  inconveniences  caused  by  earthy 
substances  mixed  with  the  iron.  I  have  no  doubt  that  when  the  coal 
mines  are  developed  the  iron  industry  will  make  great  strides  and 
that  we  will  be  able  to  manufacture  most  of  at  least  the  low  grades  of 
the  iron  goods  required  for  our  comsumption.  In  several  other  places 
besides  our  Iron  Mountain  we  have  iron  with  very  little  phosphorus, 
which  makes  first-class  steel  and  is  as  good  as  the  best  produced  in 
Cuba  or  Spain. 


22  Geoatapbfcal  IRotes  on 

The  deposits  of  iron  in  Mexico  are  sufficient  to  supply  the  universe 
for  centuries  to  come.  There  is  but  one  thing  lacking,  and  that  thing 
is — cheap  fuel.  Nature  never  works  by  halves  ;  those  immense  de- 
posits of  iron  never  were  put  where  they  are  without  the  means  near 
at  hand  for  their  utilization.  Coal  exists,  but  it  has  not  been  mined  yet 
on  a  large  scale,  as  it  will  be  hereafter. 

But  even  at  the  present  time  the  principal  supply  of  pig-iron  comes 
from  native  ore,  the  output  being  consumed  by  the  producers  in  the 
manufacture  of  iron  goods.  The  main  iron  mines  now  being  worked 
are  located  at  Durango,  Zimapdn,  Zacualtipan,  Tulancingo,  and  Leon. 
For  the  most  part  these  mines  are  found  in  the  midst  of  great  forests, 
in  consequence  of  which  cheap  fuel  is  found  in  the  form  of  charcoal, 
the  iron  made  from  which  being  of  very  superior  quality,  free  from 
phosphorous,  and,  price  and  other  things  being  equal,  is  always  pre- 
ferred to  the  imported  pig.  It  is  manufactured  in  charcoal  furnaces 
exclusively. 

There  is,  however,  quite  a  considerable  amount  of  pig  imported, 
principally  from  Alabama,  and  Scotch  pig  from  England.  The  great 
drawback  to  importations  heretofore  has  been  the  immense  quantity  of 
scrap  iron,  which,  during  the  lapse  of  centuries,  had  accumulated,  un- 
used, throughout  the  Republic.  This,  however,  is  becoming  well-nigh 
exhausted  ;  and  for  that  reason  the  demand  for  imported  pig  is  increas- 
ing, the  native  output  not  keeping  pace  with  the  need  for  it.  Much 
scrap  iron  also  has  come  from  railroads,  another  source  of  supply 
which  is  not  increasing  with  the  demand. 

Imported  pig  ranges  in  price  in  the  City  of  Mexico  from  $50  to  $60 
silver  per  ton,  the  native  producers  aiming  to  keep  their  price  just 
about  the  same. 

Iron  Foundries. — There  are  in  the  City  of  Mexico,  in  addition  to 
several  small  ones,  seven  large  foundries,  as  follows  :  the  Mexican 
Central  Railroad  foundry,  the  Mexican  National  Railroad  foundry, 
the  Artistic,  the  Delicias,  Charreton  Bros.,  V.  Elcoro  &  Co.,  and 
Hipolito  David.  There  are  also  large  foundries  at  Pachuca,  Puebla, 
Chihuahua,  Durango,  and  Monterey,  as  well  as  smaller  ones  at  Irapuato, 
Guanajuato,  Zacatecas,  Veracruz,  Guadalajara,  Mazatlan,  Oaxaca,  and 
Morelia. 

Copper. — Copper  is  now  quite  an  important  product  of  Mexico,  and 
is  used  to  a  certain  extent  in  the  country,  but  as  the  supply  far  exceeds 
the  home  demand,  it  is  exported  to  the  United  States  and  Europe. 
That  which  finds  its  way  to  this  country  enters  chiefly  in  the  form  of 
matte,  and  is  refined  into  casting  or  electrolytic  copper.  What  goes  to 
Europe  is  blister  copper,  or  approximately  so,  from  the  Boleo  mine  in 
Lower  California,  where  a  French  company  is  working  a  large  group 
of  copper  mines.  The  point  of  most  activity  is  Santa  Rosalia,  on  the 


23 

Gulf  of  California,  where  the  company  treats  the  ore  in  its  own  smelt- 
ing plant  adjoining.  The  matte,  or  black  copper,  is  sent  to  Europe  in 
the  same  vessels  that  bring  out  coke.  The  company  gives  employ- 
ment to  thousands  of  hands  directly  and  indirectly,  owns  its  own 
steamers,  and  solicits  workmen  all  along  the  coast.  But  this  enter- 
prise, large  as  it  is,  shows  the  progress  that  has  been  made  and  the 
difficulties  overcome  by  individuals.  The  country  itself  is  arid  and 
sterile,  and  there  is  little  encouragement  for  others  to  prospect,  or 
even  develop,  when  found,  apparently  good  prospects,  owing  to  the 
natural  difficulties  to  be  overcome  and  the  vast  capital  necessary  to 
successfully  carry  on  mining  operations  ;  as  success  is  hardly  to  be 
obtained  except  by  treating  the  ores  on  the  ground,  as  the  Boleo  Com- 
pany has  done. 

At  the  same  time  the  enterprising  firm  of  Guggenheim  has  estab- 
lished its  works  at  Aguas  Calientes,  adding  very  considerably  to  the 
copper  product,  and  the  increase  of  matte  shipments  from  San  Luis 
Potosi  and  Monterey  makes  a  large  difference  from  former  returns. 
To  judge  from  the  official  figures,  the  amount  of  copper  produced  in 
1896  was  not  less  than  22,000  metric  tons,  the  greater  production  being 
from  the  Boleo  mines. 

Quicksilver. — The  production  of  quicksilver  can  only  be  approxi- 
mated from  imports,  as  the  native  production  is  far  short  of  the  re- 
quirements of  the  country.  In  1895  the  amount  imported  was  818,704 
kilos,  with  a  value  of  $541,664,  while  during  the  past  year  the  amount 
imported  was  854,526  kilos,  with  a  value  of  $574,153.  The  only  infer- 
ence to  be  drawn  from  these  figures  is  that  the  production  in  Mexico 
in  the  past  year  as  compared  with  1895  ^as  not  increased,  and  the 
figures  of  production  given  in  the  Engineering  and  Mining  Journal  of 
1895  may  be  accepted  as  correct  for  1896. 

Coal. — Fuel  is  perhaps  the  greatest  and  most  pressing  need  of 
Mexico.  For  centuries  the  population  of  the  whole  country  has  used 
wood  for  fuel,  until  the  most  thickly  inhabited  portions  of  the  country 
are  completely  destitute  of  trees.  This  condition  of  things  is  a  very 
serious  objection  to  the  increase  of  manufacturing,  as  it  is  impossible 
to  manufacture  cheaply  when  fuel  commands  a  very  high  figure.  Coal, 
which  has  to  be  transported  sometimes  for  thousands  of  miles  before  it 
reaches  the  centre  of  the  country,  becomes  very  expensive.  At  present 
rates  the  cost  of  wood  in  the  City  of  Mexico  is  equal  to  $14  a  cord, 
while  coal  ranges  from  $16  to  $22  per  ton  according  to  grade,  and  one 
source  of  supply  is  the  artificial  fuel  of  compressed  coal  dust  brought 
from  England,  and  in  use  not  alone  on  the  Veracruz  Railway,  but  in 
various  local  industries,  while  coal  also  comes  from  West  Virginia, 
Alabama,  etc.  The  distances  of  the  sources  of  coal  supply  and  its 
consequent  cost  led  to  the  attempt  of  utilizing  the  peat  deposits  which 


24  <Beo0rapbicai  IRotes  on 

are  of  great  extent  and  practically  inexhaustible  within  ten  miles  of 
the  City  of  Mexico. 

In  the  Tlahualilo  district  of  the  State  of  Coahuila,  for  instance, 
owing  to  the  distance  from  the  nearest  coal  mines,  the  question  of  fuel 
is  very  important,  as  there  are  at  present  more  than  three  hundred 
horse-power  in  constant  use,  and  the  amount  is  steadily  increasing., 
The  main  supply  is  from  the  mesquite  brush,  which  is  cleared  from  the 
new  lands  as  the  work  of  ditching  and  preparation  advances.  The 
hulls  of  the  cotton  seed  also  make  a  hot  but  quick  fuel  for  some  of 
the  larger  stationary  engines.  The  wheat,  straw  and  cotton  bushes  are 
utilized  for  brick-burning  and  for  the  domestic  purposes  of  the  labor- 
ing population. 

Those  acquainted  with  industrial  conditions  in  Mexico  and  making 
investigations  with  a  view  to  the  establishment  of  new  industries  in 
that  Republic,  are  consequently  impressed  with  the  fact  that,  in  spite 
of  the  cheap  labor,  favorable  climatic  conditions,  and  good  home 
markets,  the  lack  of  cheap  fuel  is  exceedingly  detrimental  to  a  large 
proportion  of  the  industries  of  this  country  ;  but  fortunately  large  de- 
posits of  coal  are  now  being  discovered  in  the  Republic.  At  Salinas, 
in  the  State  of  Coahuila,  a  large  bed  of  coal  is  being  worked  by  the 
International  Railroad  Company,  which  furnishes  fuel  for  that  road 
and  even  for  a  portion  of  the  Southern  Pacific  Railroad  and  for  some 
of  the  manufactories  in  Monterey.  In  the  district  of  Tlaxiaco,  in  the 
State  of  Oaxaca,  a  very  rich  coal-field  has  been  discovered,  but  for  the 
present  it  is  inaccessible  and  before  a  railroad  can  be  built  to  tap  it 
it  cannot  be  used,  as  the  expense  of  transportation  would  be  exceed- 
ingly high.  Sonora  contains  a  carboniferous  area,  several  miles  in  ex- 
tent, with  innumerable  veins  from  five  to  sixteen  feet  in  thickness,  of 
hard,  clean,  anthracite  coal,  carrying  as  high  a  percentage  in  fixed  car- 
bon as  the  best  coal  mined  in  Wales.  The  ledge  is  thirty  miles  in 
length  and  averages  sixteen  feet  in  width,  showing  a  quantity  sufficient 
to  supply  the  entire  Pacific  coast  with  anthracite  coal  of  the  first  quality 
for  years  to  come.  The  configuration  of  that  State  and  the  proximity 
of  the  sea  make  it  comparatively  easy  to  work  it. 

At  Jiquilpan,  State  of  Michoacan,  almost  immediately  south  from 
Negrete  station  on  the  Guadalajara  branch  of  the  Mexican  Central 
Railroad,  a  large  coal-field  has  been  discovered.  While  it  is  not  prob- 
able that  either  anthracite  or  first-class  bituminous  coal  will  be  found 
in  these  fields,  still  the  great  value  of  even  an  ordinary  class  of  coal 
will  be  appreciated  by  those  acquainted  with  industrial  conditions  in 
Mexico.  The  coal  measures  of  the  Chapala  district  probably  belong 
to  the  tertiary  period,  and  lie  in  stratified  rock  overlaid  by  an  outflow 
of  basalt  or  lava,  at  an  elevation  of  250  or  300  feet  above  Lake  Cha- 
pala. The  general  series  of  rocks  has  been  examined  and  pronounced 


^Dining.  25 

as  coal-bearing  by  an  eminent  geologist.  The  measures  are  quite  ex- 
tensive, being  easily  traced  from  Yurecuaro  to  near  Ameca  with  oc- 
casional interruptions  through  volcanic  intrusion.  The  developments 
already  made,  show  that  the  coal  or  lignite  veins  extend  over  perhaps 
thirty  square  miles.  How  much  beyond  these  limits,  it  would  be  im- 
possible to  state.  It  exists  in  considerable  quantities.  There  are  a 
number  of  veins  overlying  each  other,  and  varying  from  two  inches  to 
fifty  inches  in  width  ;  but,  as  the  explorations  have  not  yet  found  the 
veins  in  place,  it  is  impossible  to  say  exactly  what  their  condition  will 
be.  A  feature  which  adds  considerably  to  the  value  of  these  deposits 
is  an  extensive  deposit  of  bog  iron  in  the  immediate  vicinity.  If 
further  exploration  discovers  considerable  quantities  of  commercially 
valuable  coal,  it  is  easy  to  estimate  the  results  to  the  industries.  Other 
beds  of  coal  have  been  discovered  but  of  less  consequence,  and  in 
several  of  the  northern  states  of  Mexico  there  are  known  to  exist  large 
deposits. 

Mexican  industries  will  be  completely  revolutionized  when  they  can 
use  cheap  coal  instead  of  wood  for  all  purposes,  thus  cheapening  the 
cost  of  manufacturing  by  using  cheaper  fuel,  which  is  so  important  an 
item  of  expense  in  manufacturing. 

Mexican  Miners. — While  the  laborers  employed  in  Mexico  will  not 
compare  in  efficiency  with  the  labor  of  the  miner  in  the  United  States,  it 
must  be  borne  in  mind  that  the  American  miner  works  eight  hours  and 
receives  $3  per  day,  or  $6  in  Mexican  money,  and  $6  in  Mexican 
money  will  employ  from  eight  to  twelve  Mexicans,  wages  varying  from 
5oc.  to  75c.  per  day.  As  for  the  climatic  conditions,  it  is  only  necessary 
to  say  that  in  all  the  mining  districts  of  Mexico  a  miner  can  work  365 
days  in  the  year.  There  is  never  any  snow  or  cold  weather  in  winter, 
and  the  heat  in  the  summer  is  not  so  extreme  as  in  St.  Louis,  Chicago, 
or  New  York,  and  never  enervating.  A  pair  of  blankets  at  night  are 
indispensable  every  night  in  the  year. 

Mining  Laws.  —  The  mining  laws  of  Mexico  issued  during  the 
Spanish  rule,  which  were  kept  in  force  until  1884,  were  both  liberal  and 
wise,  and  were  intended  to  encourage  mining.  The  domain  of  the 
mines  remained  in  the  Government  and  it  gave  temporary  titles  to  any- 
body who  discovered  one,  and  who  was  willing  to  work  it,  but  only  as 
long  as  work  was  done  in  the  mine.  When  the  discoverer  or  owner 
could  not  for  any  reason  continue  to  work  it,  and  allowed  a  certain 
time  to  elapse  without  doing  any  work,  the  mine  reverted  to  the 
Government  and  anybody  else  willing  to  work  it  could  obtain  a  tem- 
porary title  over  it.  This  system  was  changed,  by  our  Mining  Code  of 
1884,  to  the  effect  of  giving  the  mines  in  fee  simple  to  the  discoverers  of 
the  same,  whether  they  were  worked  or  not  by  those  who  denounced 
them,  and  the  only  cause  for  forfeiting  the  title  is  the  failure  to  pay  a 


r26  6eo0rapbical  Betes  on 

-tax  of  $10  per  pertenencia,  a  "  pertenencia  "  being  OUT  unit  of  a  mining 
property  and  consisting  of  a  hectare  or  a  square  100  metres  on  each 
side,  equivalent  to  2.47  acres.  The  rights  of  the  owner  of  the  land 
are  not  interfered  with,  and  in  case  anybody  discovers  a  mine  upon 
another  man's  property,  the  landlord  continues  to  own  the  surface,  and 
all  the  discoverer  is  entitled  to  is  the  mineral  underground  and  so 
much  of  the  surface  as  is  necessary  to  work  it,  for  buildings  and 
other  mining  requirements,  and  for  that  the  owner  of  the  ground  is 
compensated  by  agreement,  or,  if  no  amicable  agreement  can  be 
reached,  by  arbitration. 

Mining  litigation  is  quite  rare  in  Mexico,  and  it  does  not  take  long 
to  get  a  final  decision,  as  mining  cases  are  tried  before  a  single  judge, 
and  appeals  lie  to  the  Supreme  Courts  of  the  different  states,  and  to 
the  Federal  Supreme  Court  in  Mexico.  To  the  honor  of  the  courts  in 
Mexico  be  it  said,  as  may  also  be  said  of  the  judiciary  in  the  States  and 
the  United  States  Federal  Courts,  they  are  above  reproach. 

A  concise  statement  of  the  provisions  of  the  present  mining  laws 
of  Mexico  will  not  be  out  of  place  here. 

The  law  grants  to  all  inhabitants  of  the  country  the  right  to  acquire 
and  work  mines.  He  has  to  denounce  a  new  mine.  A  denouncement 
means  making  a  location.  When  the  location  of  a  claim  has  been 
determined  upon,  all  possible  data  are  obtained  concerning  it  before  the 
denouncement  is  made.  It  may  be  a  rich  old  mine,  and  yet  if  the  law 
has  not  been  complied  with  it  is  subject  to  relocation.  The  law  grants 
to  any  inhabitant  of  the  Republic  the  right  to  explore  for  mineral. 
All  districts  have  their  mining  agents  and  all  the  prospector  has  to  do 
is  to  have  the  regular  form  of  petition  used  in  making  out  a  denounce- 
ment, as  it  is  called,  made  out  and  submitted  to  the  mining  agent  of 
.the  district.  If  there  does  not  happen  to  be  a  mining  agent  in  the 
district,  the  petition  is  presented  to  the  local  postmaster.  The  expense 
of  registering  the  petition  is  $i.  After  registering  the  petition,  the 
mining  agent  has  thirty  days  in  which  to  appoint  an  expert  to  examine 
the  property,  who  has  eight  days  in  which  to  reply  to  the  summons, 
and  if  he  accepts  the  service,  the  mining  agent  issues  in  duplicate  a 
document  stating  that  the  claim  has  been  denounced  and  directing 
objecting  parties  to  make  known  their  prior  claims  within  a  period  of 
four  months  from  the  date  of  the  denouncement,  or  forfeit  any  right  to 
the  property. 

The  charge  of  the  expert  for  making  a  report  upon  the  claim,  to- 
gether with  the  plans,  is  about  $15  per  claim  and  travelling  expenses. 
The  expert  has  sixty  days  in  which  to  send  in  his  plans  and  report. 
The  notification  that  the  property  has  been  denounced  is  published  in 
the  official  journal  of  the  district,  the  cost  of  which  varies  in  the 
.different  states,  from  $2  to  $4  being  the  usual  fee. 


/IDining,  27 

The  cost  of  making  up  a  mining  title  is  from  $10  to  $12.  Titles, 
when  once  granted,  unless  fraud  is  shown,  are  irrevocable  so  long  as  the 
taxes  are  paid,  which  are  ten  dollars  per  year  on  each  "  pertenencia," 
and  no  work  or  manual  labor  is  necessary  to  hold  the  same.  The  taxes 
may  be  paid  quarterly  or  annually,  at  the  discretion  of  the  holder,  to 
the  mining  agent  of  the  district  in  which  the  property  is  denounced, 
or  by  special  arrangement  they  may  be  paid  at  the  office  of  the  Fed- 
eral Treasury  in  the  City  of  Mexico.  After  the  title  is  granted,  it 
must  be  registered  in  the  district  where  the  denouncement  is  made, 
and  also  entered  upon  the  books  of  the  stamp  office,  for  which  no  fees 
are  charged. 

MINTS   AND    DUTIES   ON    SILVER. 

Under  the  Spanish  laws  all  silver  paid  a  duty  ;  and  as  most  of  it 
was  coined,  that  duty  was  levied  on  coinage,  and  the  exportation  of 
bullion  was  prohibited  ;  but  of  course  a  great  deal  was  smuggled,  both 
during  the  Spanish  rule  and  still  more  when  Mexico  was  opened  to 
foreign  trade  after  our  Independence.  When  I  occupied  for  the  first 
time  the  Treasury  Department  of  Mexico  in  1868,  it  seemed  to  me  an 
outrage  against  the  mining  industry  of  the  country  to  require  the 
miners — especially  those  who  were  far  removed  from  the  mints — to 
take  their  bullion  from  the  mints,  at  a  heavy  expense  and  risk,  coin  it 
there  and  take  it  back  to  the  mines,  and  from  there  to  the  ports  to  be 
exported  to  London,  where  it  was  often  again  turned  into  bullion  ;  and 
as  the  contracts  made  with  the  lessees  of  the  mints  did  not  allow  the 
free  exportation  of  bullion,  I  proposed  and  succeeded  in  having  en- 
acted a  law  for  the  purpose  of  allowing  bullion  to  be  exported,  pro- 
vided that  it  paid  the  coinage  duty  at  the  respective  custom-houses  for 
the  benefit  of  the  mint's  lessees  ;  and  this  condition  of  things,  extra- 
ordinary as  it  may  seem,  was  a  great  relief  to  the  silver  producers,  and 
continued  until  the  Mexican  Government  could  recover  all  the  mints 
and  be  free  to  legislate  on  the  subject,  which  it  was  able  to  do  par- 
tially during  my  last  incumbency  of  the  Treasury  Department ;  they 
all  since  having  been  recovered. 

We  had  thirteen  mints  in  the  country  to  coin  the  silver  extracted 
from  our  mines,  which,  in  the  precarious  condition  of  the  Mexican 
Treasury,  were  sometimes  rented  to  private  parties  who  advanced  a 
sum  that  seemed  large  at  that  time,  although  it  was  a  trifle  in  compari- 
son to  their  profits,  as  they  collected  a  duty  of  nearly  4^  per  cent, 
upon  the  amount  of  bullion  coined,  and  they  credited  to  the  Govern- 
ment only  i-J  per  cent,  of  the  same,  the  laws  requiring  that  only  coined 
silver  could  be  exported.  But  now  that  silver  can  be  transported  easily 
from  the  mine  to  the  mint,  since  a  railway  system  has  been  built,  the 
mints  have  been  reduced  to  four, — one  in  the  City  of  Mexico,  which 


28  6eocjrapbical  Wotes  on  /l&ejico, 

is  the  principal  one  ;  one  at  each  of  the  cities  of  Guanajuato,  Zacatecasr 
and  Culiacan,  the  last  being  the  capital  of  Sinaloa. 

Besides  the  mint  or  coinage  duties,  silver  was  taxed  in  Mexico  with, 
an  export  duty  which  sometimes  was  as  high  as  twelve  per  cent,  on  the 
value  of  the  silver,  which,  together  with  the  mint  duty,  amounted  to 
seventeen  per  cent.,  not  taking  into  account  other  taxes  and  local  duties. 
Only  the  rich  character  of  the  Mexican  mines  could  stand  that  burden. 

The  duties  on  silver  have  been  readjusted  and  reduced  consider- 
ably, until  now  they  only  amount,  as  established  by  the  law  of  March 
27,  1897,  to  a  coinage  duty  of  two  per  cent,  and  a  stamp  duty  of  three 
per  cent.,  which  are  paid  at  the  Assay  Office  of  the  Mint  when  coined, 
or  at  the  custom-house  when  exported  in  bullion,  ores,  or  other  com- 
pounds. When  exported  in  ores  in  their  crude  condition,  the  duty  has 
a  rebate  of  ten  per  cent.  A  small  duty  representing  the  cost  of  the 
operation  is  also  charged  for  assaying,  refining,  smelting,  and  separat- 
ing the  metals. 

SMELTING    PLANTS. 

The  Tariff  Act  of  October  i,  1890,  having  levied  a  duty  upon  lead 
ore,  which  prevented  that  Mexican  product  from  coming  into  the 
United  States  in  the  shape  it  had  come  before,  the  American  com- 
panies, who  had  been  developing  the  lead  ore  in  Mexico,  established 
smelting  plants  in  the  country  for  the  purpose  of  treating  there  the 
lead  ore,  and  sending  it  as  pig-lead  to  the  United  States. 

The  smelting  plants  that  have  been  established  in  Mexico,  and 
their  capacity  and  output,  taken  from  official  data  received  from  the 
Mexican  Government,  up  to  December  31,  1896,  are  the  following  : 

Mexican  Metallurgical  Company. — This  company,  of  which  Mr. 
Robert  S.  Towne  is  president,  obtained  a  charter  from  the  Mexican 
Government  on  March  20,  1890,  to  establish  five  smelting  plants  in 
Mexico,  two  with  the  minimum  capacity  of  200  tons  a  day,  two  of  150 
tons,  and  one  of  100  tons.  The  first  one  is  located  at  Morales,  five 
kilometres  west  of  the  city  of  San  Luis  Potosi.  During  the  fiscal  year 
1895  to  1896,  this  plant  received  62,370  and  020/1000  metric  tons  of 
ore  from  the  States  of  Chihuahua,  Coahuila,  Durango,  Guanajuato, 
Jalisco,  Mexico,  Michoacan,  Nuevo  Leon,  Queretaro,  San  Luis  Potosi, 
and  Zacatecas.  This  plant  yielded  during  the  same  year  16,019  and 
070/1000  metric  tons  of  base  lead  bullion,  with  3,198,924.14  troy 
ounces  of  silver,  valued  at  $4,882,177.50  ;  and  8268  and  37/100  troy 
ounces  of  gold,  valued  at  $161,338.63. 

National  Mexican  Smelter  at  Monterey. — This  company,  whose 
president  is  Mr*  Daniel  Guggenheim,  obtained  a  charter  from  .the 
Mexican  Government  on  October  9,  1890,  to  establish  three  smelting 
plants  in  Mexico,  two  with  a  minimum  capacity  of  300  tons  per  day, 


29 

and  one  with  100  tons.  The  first  plant  is  located  in  the  outskirts  of 
the  city  of  Monterey,  has  ten  furnaces  of  the  water-jacket  system,  and 
seven  smelting  furnaces  for  lead  ore.  From  July,  1892,  to  June,  1896, 
this  plant  has  smelted  521,809  and  769/1000  metric  tons  of  ore,  yield- 
ing 78,067  and  141/1000  tons  of  lead,  with  515,382  kilograms  of  silver, 
with  a  value  of  $21,824,597.93,  having  used  foreign  coke  to  the  value 
of  $1,474,385.81,  and  Mexican  coke  to  the  value  of  $73,268.08. 

Central  Mexican  Smelter. — The  second  smelter  of  the  Guggenheim 
Company  is  located  at  Aguascalientes.  It  has  a  department  for  con- 
centrating copper  ores,  one  for  smelting  the  same  ores,  consisting  of 
three  furnaces,  and  another  with  four  furnaces  for  smelting  lead  ores. 
This  plant  smelted  from  the  26th  of  December,  1895,  606  and  190/1000 
tons  of  lead,  containing  6502  kilograms  of  silver  and  28  and  71/100 
kilograms  of  gold,  with  a  value  of  $341,091. 

Velardena  Mining  Company. — This  company,  whose  president  is  Mr. 
Edward  W.  Nash,  obtained  a  charter  from  the  Mexican  Government 
on  May  15, 1893,  for  the  construction  of  two  smelting  plants  in  Mexico, 
with  a  capacity  of  200  tons  a  day  each.  From  November  30,  1893,  to 
June  30,  1896,  this  plant  smelted  110,000  tons  of  ore,  yielding  9069 
and  680/1000  tons  of  lead  containing  1,850,685  troy  ounces  of  silver 
and  6192  ounces  of  gold. 

The  Chihuahua  Mining  Company. — This  company,  whose  president 
is  Mr.  John  B.  Shaw,  obtained  a  charter  from  the  Mexican  Govern- 
ment May  26,  1893,  and  is  located  near  the  city  of  Chihuahua.  Up  to 
July  28,  1896,  it  had  smelted  28,555  tons  °f  lead  °re,  yielding  3761 
tons  of  lead  and  529,450  troy  ounces  of  silver. 

The  Mazapil  Copper  Company,  Limited. — This  company  established 
a  plant  at  Concepcion  del  Oro,  Zacatecas,  and  has  smelted  5000  tons 
of  lead  ore  containing  silver. 

Sabinal  Mining  and  Smelting  Company,  Chihuahua. — This  company 
owns  the  mines  of  Santa  Juliana  and  Santa  Inez,  which  yield  30  per 
cent,  of  lead,  with  a  mixture  of  silver,  and  smelts  their  ore,  notwith- 
standing that  the  cost  of  a  ton  of  coke  amounts  to  $37.50. 

La  Preciosa. — A  smelter  under  that  name  has  been  established  at 
Tepeyahualco,  State  of  Puebla,  but  I  do  not  have  any  data  about  the 
company  owning  it,  and  the  date  of  its  contract  with  the  Mexican 
Government,  nor  the  amount  of  ore  smelted  there. 

The  Boleo  Smelter. — I  have  already  spoken  of  this  plant,  which 
smelts  copper  ores  at  Santa  Rosalia,  Lower  California. 

OROGRAPHY. 

Mexico  is  traversed  by  two  cordilleras  or  high  ranges  of  mountains 
running  almost  parallel  to  the  coast,  one  along  the  Gulf  of  Mexico 
and  the  other  along  the  Pacific  Ocean.  The  former  runs  from  ten  to 


30  Oeograpbicai  iRotes  on  flDejico, 

one  hundred  miles  from  the  coast,  leaving  an  imperceptibly  inclined 
plane  from  the  sea  to  the  foot  of  the  mountains  ;  while  the  cordillera 
on  the  Pacific  side  runs,  on  the  whole,  very  near  the  coast,  leaving  a 
very  narrow  strip  of  land  between  the  same  and  the  sea,  and  from  this 
run  several  branches  in  different  directions.  The  most  continuous 
range  is  the  Sierra  Madre  of  the  Pacific,  which  may  be  traced,  at  a 
mean  elevation  of  over  10,000  feet,  from  Oaxaca  to  Arizona.  Parallel 
to  this  is  the  Lower  Californian  range  (Sierra  de  la  Giganta)  3000 
feet,  which,  however,  falls  abruptly  eastwards,  like  the  Atlantic  escarp- 
ments. The  California  peninsula  seems  to  have  been  detached  from 
the  mainland  when  the  general  upheaval  took  place  which  produced 
the  vast  chasm  now  flooded  by  the  Gulf  of  California.  Corresponding 
with  the  Sierra  Madre  on  the  west  are  the  more  interrupted  eastern 
scarps  of  the  central  plateau,  which  sweep  around  the  Gulf  of  Mexico 
as  the  Sierra  Madres  of  Nuevo  Leon  and  Tamaulipas  at  an  elevation 
of  about  6000  feet.  These  are  crossed  by  the  routes  from  Tula  to 
Tampico,  the  highest  pass  being  4820  feet ;  from  Saltillo  to  Monterey 
3400,  and  at  several  other  places. 

Of  the  central  cross  ridges  the  most  important  orographically  and 
historically  is  the  Cordillera  de  Anahuac,  which  surrounds  the  Mexi- 
can (Tenochtitlan)  and  Puebla  valleys,  and  which  is  supposed  to  cul- 
minate with  Popocatepetl  and  Ixtacihuatl.  But  these  giants  belong  to 
a  different  or  rather  more  recent  system  of  igneous  upheaval,  running 
from  sea  to  sea  between  18°  59'  and  19°  12'  N.  in  almost  a  straight  line 
east  and  west,  consequently  nearly  at  right  angles  to  the  main  axis  of 
the  central  plateau.  The  line  is  clearly  marked  by  several  extinct 
cones  and  by  five  active  or  quiescent  volcanoes,  of  which  the  highest 
is  Popocatepetl,  lying  south  of  the  capital,  nearly  midway  between 
the  Pacific  and  the  Atlantic.  East  of  the  central  point  of  the  system 
are  Citlaltepetl,  better  known  as  the  peak  of  Orizaba,  on  the  coast 
south  of  Veracruz,  to  which  correspond  on  the  west  the  recently 
upheaved  Jorullo  in  Michoacan,  Colima  (12,800)  near  the  coast  in 
Jalisco,  and  the  volcanic  Revillagigedo  group  in  the  Pacific.  South 
of  this  line  and  nearly  parallel,  are  the  sierras  of  Guerrero,  and  south- 
east of  the  Tehuantepec  Isthmus  those  of  Oaxaca  and  Chiapas  towards 
the  Guatemala  frontier.  In  the  same  direction  run  the  islands  of  Cuba 
and  Hayti,  which  probably  belong  to  the  same  Central  American  system. 

In  the  course  of  centuries  these  high  mountains  have  become  dis- 
integrated by  the  rains  and  other  natural  elements,  and  a  great  many 
spaces  between  them  filled  up,  forming  a  series  of  valleys  and  other 
spots  quite  delightful  in  climate  and  very  rich  in  agricultural  resources. 
This  series  of  valleys,  which  we  call  the  central  plateau,  runs  from 
about  one  hundred  and  fifty  miles  east  of  the  City  of  Mexico,  travers- 
ing all  of  Mexico  in  a  northwesterly  direction.  So  level  is  the  plateau 


that  even  when  there  were  no  wagon  roads  in  Mexico  one  could  travel 
in  a  carriage  from  the  City  of  Mexico  to  Santa  Fe.  Baron  Humboldt 
and  other  geologists  considered  the  cordilleras  of  Mexico  as  a  portion 
of  the  Andes  of  South  America,  which  originate  in  Patagonia,  extend- 
ing over  the  whole  of  that  continent ;  but  researches  were  made  spe- 
cially by  a  corps  of  engineers,  who  surveyed  Mexico  during  the  French 
Intervention,  arrived  at  a  different  conclusion,  and  consider  that  the 
Andes  proper  end  in  Panama,  and  that  the  Mexican  cordilleras  are 
entirely  independent  from  that  lofty  chain  of  mountains. 

In  contrast  with  the  plains  and  at  times  barren  districts  of  the 
central  plateau,  it  is  occasionally  broken  by  depressions  of  the  soil, 
known  as  barrancas,  descending  sometimes  one  thousand  feet  and 
measuring  several  miles  across,  which  are  covered  with  a  luxuriant 
vegetation  of  trees  and  shrubs,  and  watered  by  small  streams  running 
through  the  middle  of  the  valley.  Among  the  most  remarkable  ones  are 
the  barranca  de  Beltran  descending  the  western  slope  from  Guadalajara 
to  Colima,  and  the  barranca  de  Mochitilte  from  Guadalajara  to  Tepic. 

One  of  the  pre-eminently  interesting  features  of  Mexico  is  the 
mountain  of  Jerullo,  in  this  section,  which  has  been  born  within  recent 
times.  The  natives  described  to  Alexander  von  Humboldt  the  con- 
vulsions of  the  earth  during  its  birth,  and  the  frightful  spectacle  of  the 
huge  mass  thrusting  its  giant  shoulders  among  its  neighbors,  making 
room  for  itself  in  their  ranks. 

The  best  way  to  illustrate  the  broken  surface  of  Mexico  is  to  give 
the  altitudes  of  some  of  the  principal  localities,  both  from  the  coast  to 
the  interior  and  from  the  interior  back  to  the  coast,  taken  from  the 
measurements  made  by  the  railroad  companies  and  by  the  engineers  of 
the  Mexican  Government  in  the  national  wagon  roads  where  railroads 
are  not  yet  running.  I  append  to  this  paper  a  list  of  such  altitudes, 
with  their  distances,  whenever  I  have  been  able  to  find  them,  which 
I  consider  the  best  illustration  that  could  be  presented  on  this  subject. 


MOUNTAINS. 

STATES. 

ELEVATION 
IN  FEET. 

17    ^dO 

Orizaba         

Veracruz  and  Puebla 

17   ^62 

Toluca             

Mexico  

je  oiO 

Ixtacihuatl  

Mexico  and  Puebla  

16  076 

Colirna 

Jalisco  

I/I  ^67 

Zapotlan                                               .  .  . 

Jalisco  

12  743 

San  Martin  or  Tuxtla  

Veracruz  

4Q2I 

12  4.6? 

4  265 

Chiapas.  ...          .              ... 

7  436 

Federal  District  

9731 

Ajusco                                   

Federal  District 

13  628 

Cofre  de  Perote  

Veracruz  .    . 

13  4Ie> 

11,141 

Pico  de  Ouinceo               

Michoacan  ...             . 

IO  QCK 

Veta  Grande  

Zacatecas  

9,I4O 

32  Geograpbical  IRotes  on 

The  above  are  the  principal  mountain  peaks  of  Mexico,  the  first 
ten  being  volcanoes,  with  their  heights  according  to  the  most  recent 
measurements  : 

HYDROGRAPHY. 

The  eastern  Mexican  coast,  washed  by  the  Caribbean  Sea  and 
the  Gulf  of  Mexico,  is  low,  flat,  and  sandy,  except  near  the  mouth  of 
the  Tabasco  River,  where  at  some  distance  from  the  coast  appear  the 
heights  of  San  Gabriel,  extending  northeast  and  southwest  for  sev- 
eral miles  ;  but  the  majestic  mountains  of  Veracruz,  especially  the 
volcano  of  Orizaba,  visible  for  many  leagues  to  seaward,  form  a  pictur- 
esque background  which  relieves  the  monotony  of  the  shore  region  of 
that  State.  On  the  Pacific  side  the  coast,  although  generally  low,  is 
here  and  there  roughened  by  spurs  extending  from  the  cordillera  to 
the  ocean. 

The  principal  gulfs  are  those  of  Mexico,  California,  and  Tehuante- 
pec,  the  first  of  which  ranks  among  the  largest  in  the  world. 

We  are  not  blessed  with  good  harbors  on  the  Gulf  coast.  Vera- 
cruz is  an  open  roadstead,  and  we  are  now  spending  large  sums  of 
money  in  trying  to  make  it  a  good  port.  Our  best  harbors  are  on  the 
Pacific  coast,  as  Acapulco,  which  is  a  large  one  ;  Manzanillo,  a  very 
fine  although  a  very  small  one  ;  and  La  Paz,  on  the  Gulf  of  California. 
By  artificial  means  we  expect  to  improve  our  harbors  considerably. 

The  development  of  the  harbor  of  Tampico  is  remarkable.  A 
short  time  ago  the  depth  of  the  bar  roadstead  was  only  eight  or  nine 
feet.  Now  steamships  drawing  twenty-four  feet  of  water  enter  the 
port.  The  deepening  of  the  entrance  to  the  harbor  has  been  accom- 
plished by  means  of  jetties,  just  as  the  mouth  of  the  Mississippi  was 
deepened  by  the  Eads  jetties.  A  very  large  part  of  the  imports  of 
Mexico  enter  now  by  the  port  of  Tampico. 

The  more  noteworthy  bays  are  those  of  Guaymas,  Santa  Barbara, 
Topolobampo  and  Navachiste,  in  the  Gulf  of  California  ;  Concepcion, 
La  Paz,  and  Muleje,  on  the  west  coast  of  the  same  gulf  ;  San  Quentin, 
Magdalena,  and  Amejas,  on  the  Pacific  coast  of  Lower  California  ;  and 
San  Bias  and  Valle  de  Banderas,  on  the  coast  of  Tepic. 

We  have  no  lakes  as  large  as  those  with  which  the  United  States 
is  favored,  and  the  Lake  of  Chapala,  a  beautiful  spot  where  country 
houses  are  now  being  built,  is  the  largest  lacustrine  basin  in  Mexican 
territory.  The  Valley  of  Mexico  has  six  lakes,  two  of  fresh  and  six  of 
salt  water.  The  other  lakes  in  Mexico  are  Catemaco,  in  the  State  of 
Veracruz  ;  Cairel  and  Carpintero,  in  the  State  of  Tamaulipas  ;  Encan- 
tada,  in  Tabasco  ;  Bacalar,  in  Yucatan  ;  Alcuzague,  in  Colima  ;  Cuit- 
zeo,  Tacascuaro,  and  Patzcuaro,  in  Michoacan  ;  Yuriria,  in  Guanaju- 
ato ;  and  Meztitlan,  in  Hidalgo. 


33 

Mexico  has  a  great  many  islands,  situated  near  the  coast,  although 
not  any  of  very  great  area,  the  greater  number  being  uninhabited, 
although  some  of  them  are  very  fertile,  and  could  be  the  seat  of  a 
large  population.  Among  the  most  important  are :  El  Carmen, 
the  largest  in  the  Gulf  of  Mexico  ;  San  Juan  de  Ulua  and  Sacrificios, 
opposite  the  port  of  Veracruz  ;  Mujeres,  in  the  Caribbean  Sea  ;  Guada- 
lupe,  about  seventy-five  miles  from  the  west  coast  of  Lower  California; 
the  Tres  Marias  group,  about  thirty  miles  from  the  same  coast  ;  the 
Revillagigedo  group,  not  far  from  the  coast  of  Colima ;  and  adjoining 
the  coast  of  the  State  of  Michoacan,  the  Alcatraz  Island. 

As  I  have  already  stated,  Mexico  has  a  very  broken  surface,  with 
high  mountains,  causing  streams  to  run  down  a  very  inclined  plane, 
forming  torrents  with  rapid  cascades,  which  contribute  to  embellish 
the  natural  features  of  the  country.  These  conditions,  however,  pre- 
vent us  from  having  large  navigable  rivers,  and  furnishing  a  cheap 
way  of  transportation,  which  is  one  of  the  greatest  advantages  the 
United  States  enjoys,  and  which  so  largely  contributed  in  its  early 
days  to  the  development  of  the  country,  making  transportation  to  long 
distances  both  easy  and  cheap.  While  the  torrents  descending  from 
the  mountains  afford  an  immense  water-power — which,  in  the  course 
of  time,  may  be  used  as  a  motor  for  industrial  purposes — they  meet 
when  they  reach  a  valley  and  run  smoothly  there  through  a  ravine 
until  finally  they  reach  the  coast,  and  it  is  therefore  only  at  a  compara- 
tively small  distance  from  the  sea  that  they  can  be  made  navigable. 

Our  principal  rivers,  measuring  their  positions  from  north  to  south, 
are  the  Rio  Grande — which  from  El  Paso,  Texas,  to  the  sea,  is  the 
boundary  line  between  the  two  countries,  and  which  used  to  be  a  large 
river ;  but  as  it  rises  in  Colorado  and  passes  through  New  Mexico, 
and  the  inhabitants  of  both  have  taken  for  irrigation  purposes  most  of 
the  water  that  it  carries,  it  becomes  entirely  dry  during  the  dry  season 
after  the  freshets,  very  much  to  the  distress  of  the  inhabitants  of  its 
borders  from  El  Paso  to  Ojinaga,  especially  on  the  Mexican  side,  which 
has  been  inhabited  for  three  hundred  years,  the  people  using  the  water 
for  irrigation — on  the  other  side  there  being  hardly  any  population, — 
and  now  they  find  that  their  farms  are  entirely  worthless  for  want  of 
water.  After  passing  Presidio  del  Norte,  now  called  Ojinaga,  the  Con- 
chos  River  and  other  tributaries  of  the  Rio  Grande  River  supply  it  with 
water,  although  not  to  the  extent  it  had  before  the  water  was  taken  in 
Colorado  and  New  Mexico.  The  Mescala,  or  Balsas  River,  rises  in 
the  central  plateau  near  the  Valley  of  Mexico,  passes  by  the  State  of 
Puebla  to  the  southwest,  by  Mixteca  of  Oaxaca,  and  finally  empties 
into  the  Pacific  at  Zacatula.  As  indicated  by  its  name,  it  is,  to  a  lim- 
ited extent,  navigable  along  its  lower  reaches  ;  above  the  bar  it  is 
accessible  to  small  craft,  which,  higher  up,  are  arrested  by  rapids, 

VOL.  1—3 


34  Geootapbtcal  IRotes  on 

Whirlpools,  and  a  high  cascade.  The  Panuco  River  rises  north  of  the 
Valley  of  Mexico.  Under  the  names  of  Tula  and  Montezuma  it  de- 
scribes a  vast  semicircular  bend  towards  the  west  across  the  Hidalgo- 
uplands  and  collects  the  waters  of  the  Huasteca  of  Veracruz  and  Ta- 
maulipas,  beyond  which  it  is  joined  by  the  various  streams  flowing: 
from  Queretaro,  and  finally  empties  into  the  Gulf  of  Mexico  at  the 
port  of  Tampico.  The  Tampico  bar,  improved  by  jetties,  is  now  the 
best  harbor  on  our  Gulf  coast.  The  Rio  Lerma  or  Santiago,  the 
Tololotlan  of  the  Indians,  is  also  a  considerable  stream.  By  the 
riverain  populations  it  is,  in  fact,  known  as  the  Rio  Grande,  while 
the  inhabitants  of  Michoacan  call  it  also  Cuitzeo,  from  the  large 
lake  situated  in  their  State.  It  rises  in  the  State  of  Mexico  in 
the  very  centre  of  the  Anahuac  plateau,  and  its  farthest  sourcesr 
issuing  from  underground  galleries,  descend  from  the  Nevado  de 
Toluca  down  to  the  twin  lake  of  Lerma,  the  remains  of  an  inland 
sea  which  formerly  filled  the  Upper  Toluca  valley  north  of  the  Ne- 
vado volcano.  At  its  issue  from  the  lake,  or  rather  marshy  lagoon, 
the  Lerma  stands  at  the  great  altitude  of  8600  feet,  and  during  its 
winding  northwesterly  course  across  the  plateau,  the  incline  is  very 
slight.  In  this  upland  region  it  is  swollen  by  several  affluents,  some  of 
which,  like  the  main  stream  itself,  flow  from  lakes  dotted  over  the 
table-land.  After  completing  half  of  its  course  at  La  Barca,  the  Ler- 
ma is  still  5600  feet  above  sea-level.  Here,  some  280  miles  from  its 
source,  it  enters  the  large  Lake  Chapala,  near  its  eastern  extremity  ; 
but  about  twelve  miles  below  the  entrance  it  again  emerges  through 
a  fissure  on  the  north  side  of  the  lake,  and  still  continues  to  flow- 
throughout  its  lower  course  in  the  same  northwesterly  direction. 

The  Grijalva  and  Usumacinta  rivers,  rising  in  the  State  of  Chiapas,, 
after  being  joined  by  many  others,  some  of  them  coming  from  Guate- 
mala, empty  into  the  Gulf  of  Mexico  by  one  of  its  mouths  at  the  city 
of  Frontera  in  the  State  of  Tabasco.  The  Papaloapam  River  rises  in 
the  State  of  Oaxaca,  passes  through  the  State  of  Veracruz,  and  emp- 
ties into  the  Gulf  of  Mexico  at  the  town  of  Alvarado,  a  few  miles  south 
of  Veracruz. 

The  rains  increase  considerably  the  amount  of  water  in  the  rivers,, 
but  as  their  duration  is  not  very  long  this  soon  subsides.  When  the 
streams  rise  near  the  sea,  as  is  the  case  on  the  coast  of  Chiapas  on  the 
Pacific,  they  become  so  swollen  immediately  after  the  rains  that  it  is 
impossible  to  ford  them,  and  as  there  are  no  bridges,  it  is  necessary  to 
wait  until  early  the  next  day  when  the  freshet  has  subsided. 

Springs  are  rare,  and  some  of  the  rivers  run  in  deep  mountain  beds, 
without  receiving  smaller  tributaries,  while  the  rapid  evaporation  on  a 
light  soil,  covering  porous  rocks,  leaves  the  surface  dry  and  hot  and 
unable  to  support  much  vegetation  beyond  the  cactus  and  low  grasses. 


Climate,  35 

We  are  blessed  with  quite  a  number  of  mineral  springs,  although 
very  few  of  them  are  used,  most  of  them  being  at  places  not  easily  ac- 
cessible ;  but  in  this  regard  I  do  not  think  we  have  any  cause  to  envy 
any  other  country. 

CLIMATE. 

By  looking  at  the  map  it  will  be  perceived  that  Mexico,  being  inter- 
sected by  the  Tropic  of  Cancer  and  stretching  across  eighteen  parallels 
of  latitude,  must,  from  its  position  alone,  necessarily  enjoy  a  great 
diversity  of  climate.  But  from  its  peculiar  configuration  this  feature 
is  affected  far  more  by  the  altitude  of  the  land  than  by  its  distance 
from  the  pole  or  the  equator.  This  is  especially  true  of  the  more 
fertile  and  populous  section  lying  within  the  torrid  zone,  where  three 
distinct  climatic  regions  are  distinguished,  not  according  to  their  hori- 
zontal, but  according  to  their  vertical  position.  The  warm  climate 
has  the  heat  of  the  torrid  zone  and  prevails  on  the  sea-coast  in  the 
sandy  and  marshy  tracts  fringing  the  Gulf  of  Mexico  and  the  Pacific 
Ocean,  in  other  low  places  below  3000  feet  above  the  level  of  the  sea, 
and  in  some  of  the  valleys  higher  than  that,  but  protected  entirely  from 
the  winds.  But  the  night  breezes  refresh  the  temperature  in  the  even- 
ing and  make  it  bearable  during  the  day,  the  heat  never  being  so 
oppressive  as  it  is  in  summer  in  the  more  northern  latitudes.  This 
region  is  also  much  refreshed  in  summer  by  the  rains,  which  are 
abundant  and  fall  regularly  during  that  season.  The  heat  of  the  sun 
increases  considerably  the  evaporation  from  the  sea,  and  when  the 
evaporation  reaches  the  cool  atmosphere  of  the  sky,  it  is  naturally  con- 
densed into  water  and  falls  in  this  region.  The  rains  begin  generally 
in  June,  increase  considerably  in  July,  and  end  in  November,  although 
this  varies  in  different  regions,  the  rains  lasting  longer  in  those  near 
the  sea  than  in  the  inland  districts.  They  are  so  abundant  that  they 
form  the  main  reliance  of  the  agricultural  industry,  and  there  are  few 
regions  which  use  water  for  irrigation,  depending  entirely  upon  the 
rainfall ;  therefore,  when  in  a  year  by  some  atmospheric  phenomena, 
the  rains  are  late  or  very  scarce,  we  had  a  famine  in  Mexico,  which 
can  now  be  averted  by  importing  cereals  through  our  railroads,  as  was 
the  case  in  1893.  The  rains  fall  regularly  and  at  fixed  intervals,  that 
is,  about  from  one  to  three  hours  every  day,  and  after  the  rain  is  over, 
the  atmosphere  is  clear  and  pleasant,  and  in  well  drained  places  the 
ground  becomes  dry,  so  that  it  causes  no  inconvenience  to  the  in- 
habitants. 

The  rains  have  such  a  decided  effect  on  the  atmosphere  that  in 
most  of  the  country  the  seasons  are  divided  into  the  rainy  and  dry 
season,  and  very  few  realize  what  spring  and  fall  mean.  As  our  climate 
is  so  even,  the  trees  do  not  lose  their  leaves  at  any  given  time,  but  one 


36  <3eoarapbicai  Botes  on  flDejico* 

by  one  as  they  grow  old  and  die  ;  and  as  the  leaves  die  they  are  re- 
placed gradually  and  imperceptibly  by  new  ones,  so  that  the  phenome- 
non familiar  to  northern  latitudes,  of  trees  losing  all  their  leaves  in  the 
autumn  and  regaining  them  in  the  spring,  is  quite  new  to  anybody 
going  to  a  temperature  that  has  both  extremes. 

The  differences  of  climate  depending  upon  the  different  degrees  of 
altitude  are  so  great  in  Mexico  that  the  vegetable  products  of  this  vast 
country  include  almost  all  that  are  to  be  found  between  the  equator 
and  the  polar  circle. 

The  mean  temperature  in  the  hot  region  varies  from  77  to  82  de- 
grees, Fahrenheit,  seldom  falling  below  60,  but  often  rising  to  100 
degrees,  and  in  the  sultry  districts  of  Veracruz  and  Acapulco  occa- 
sionally to  104  degrees,  although  the  heat  is  not  oppressive  as  is  the 
summer  heat  of  the  eastern  portions  of  the  United  States.  The  vege- 
tation is,  of  course,  in  consequence  entirely  tropical.  In  the  southern 
region  the  climate  on  both  seaboards  may  be  described  as  humid,  hot, 
and  rather  unhealthy,  and  in  places  where  stagnant  water  and  marshes 
exist — which  are  often  found  on  the  coast  on  account  of  the  sea  water 
flowing  in  and  remaining  there — intermittent  and  remittent  fevers  pre- 
vail, and  in  some  localities  during  the  summer  yellow  fever  and  black 
vomit  are  endemic.  These  conditions  could  easily  be  remedied  by 
proper  drainage  of  the  swamps  and  marshy  districts. 

The  heat  of  the  Gulf  of  Mexico  when  the  atmosphere  begins  to  cool 
in  the  polar  regions  causes  a  depression  in  the  barometer,  and  conse- 
quently very  strong  north  winds,  which  sweep  over  the  coast  with  ter- 
rible force,  causing  great  havoc.  They  generally  begin  in  September 
and  last  until  the  winter  season  sets  in  about  December.  As  the 
country  is  narrow,  the  effect  of  the  north  wind  is  felt  all  over  it  and 
that  is  the  prevailing  wind.  In  the  City  of  Mexico,  for  instance,  not- 
withstanding its  altitude  and  that  it  is  protected  by  high  mountains 
from  the  northern  winds,  the  temperature  falls  when  the  northerns 
prevail  on  the  Gulf  coast,  and  it  becomes  cloudy  and  drizzly,  and  the 
same  effect  is  felt,  more  or  less,  in  other  portions  of  the  country.  As 
the  country  narrows  towards  the  southeast,  especially  at  Tehuantepec, 
the  northern  wind  blows  with  but  small  obstacles,  and  its  force  and 
effects  are  felt  all  over  it.  The  districts  in  the  mountains  bordering 
the  Pacific  are  affected  in  the  same  way  as  the  City  of  Mexico. 

From  3000  to  5000  feet  above  the  level  of  the  sea  is  located  our 
temperate  zone,  which  succeeds  the  hot  zone  in  a  verticle  position, 
and  embraces  all  the  higher  terraces,  and  portions  of  the  central 
plateaus  themselves.  The  mean  temperature  is  from  62  to  70  degrees, 
Fahrenheit,  varying  not  more  than  4  to  5  degrees  during  the  season, 
thus  making  one  of  the  very  finest  climates  on  the  face  of  the  earth. 
In  this  privileged  region  both  extremes  of  heat  and  cold  are  unknown, 


Climate*  37 

and  it  has  several  cities — Jalapa  and  Huatusco  in  the  State  of  Vera- 
cruz, Chilpancingo  in  Guerrero,  Ameca  in  Jalisco,  and  many  others  too 
numerous  to  mention  here.  As  these  places  are  generally  located  on 
the  slopes  of  mountains  and  not  far  removed  from  the  ocean,  the 
evaporations  from  the  sea  form  clouds  which  are  detained  in  their 
course  by  the  high  peaks  and  are  precipitated  into  rain.  In  this 
region  the  semi-tropical  productions  are  abundant,  and  with  them  are 
often  combined  the  products  of  tropical  and  cold  regions.  I  have 
seen  in  my  own  native  place,  the  city  of  Oaxaca,  located  in  the 
temperate  region,  a  farm  where  wheat  and  sugar-cane  were  growing  on 
the  same  piece  of  ground. 

The  cold  region  is  located  from  7000  feet  above  the  sea-level  up- 
wards, and  has  a  mean  temperature  of  from  59  to  63  degrees, 
Fahrenheit.  Most  of  the  grand  central  plateau  is  located  in  this  region, 
except  in  such  places  as  are  in  a  great  depression  of  ground  and  in 
deep  ravines,  where  a  warm  temperature  and  tropical  products  are 
found.  The  rainfall  is  about  five  times  less  than  in  the  temperate  zone. 
This  region,  of  course,  produces  all  the  growths  of  the  cold  latitudes, 
as  wheat,  oats,  apples,  etc.,  etc. 

The  portion  of  the  country  that  is  most  thickly  inhabited  lies  in 
the  central  plateau,  and  is  quite  high  above  the  level  of  the  sea,  and 
so  sheltered  from  the  winds  and  storms  by  the  mountains  as  to  make 
the  climate  even,  temperate,  and  delightful.  The  impression  pre- 
vails in  the  United  States  that  Mexico,  lying  to  the  south  and  run- 
ning towards  the  equator,  must  be  much  warmer  than  this  country  ; 
but  this  is  not  so.  Even  in  warm  places,  like  the  lowlands  on  the 
coast,  we  do  not  have  the  extreme  hot  weather  that  is  experienced 
in  summer  in  the  United  States.  The  sea  breezes  refresh  the  atmos- 
phere at  night  and  cool  it  considerably,  making,  therefore,  a  very 
great  contrast  with  the  summer  heat  in  this  country.  The  medium 
climate  of  the  Valley  of  Mexico,  for  instance,  which  is  the  one  that 
has  been  best  observed  and  understood,  varies  comparatively  little 
between  summer  and  winter,  its  greatest  variations  being  between  day 
and  night  on  the  same  day. 

The  climatic  conditions  of  Mexico  are  undergoing  great  changes  on 
account  of  the  destruction  of  the  forests.  The  country  had  formerly 
a  great  deal  of  rain  and  much  humidity  in  the  atmosphere,  being 
covered  with  thick  forests  ;  but  with  the  difficulty  of  transporting  the 
coal  already  found,  the  population  has  had  to  depend  entirely  for  their 
supply  of  fuel  upon  charcoal,  and  this  has  in  the  course  of  time 
denuded  the  mountains,  changing  very  materially  the  climatic  con- 
ditions of  some  regions  in  the  country.  But  in  the  lowlands,  being 
thinly  inhabited,  the  case  is  different,  and  the  country  is  still  so  thickly 
wooded  that  it  is  impossible  to  pass  through  it,  unless  an  open  path 


(3eo0rapbical  iRotes  on 


is  made  with  a  great  deal  of  difficulty,  by  felling  very  high  trees  and 
low  brush  and  weeds.  In  this  region  abound  forests  of  mahogany, 
cedar,  rosewood,  etc.  I  will  later  state  more  in  detail  the  conditions 
of  the  fuel  question  in  Mexico. 

As  a  whole,  the  Mexican  climate,  if  not  of  the  most  invigorating 
nature,  is  certainly  one  of  the  most  delightful  in  the  world.  The  zone 
of  temperate  lands,  oceanic  slopes,  enjoy  an  everlasting  spring, 
being  exposed  neither  to  severe  winter,  nor  to  intolerable  summer 
heats  ;  in  every  glen  flows  a  rippling  stream  ;  every  human  abode  is 
embowered  in  leafy  vegetation  ;  and  here  the  native  plants  are  inter- 
mingled with  those  of  Europe  and  Africa.  Each  traveller  in  his  turn 
describes  the  valley  in  which  he  has  tarried  longest  as  the  loveliest 
in  the  world  ;  nowhere  else  do  the  snowy  crests  or  smoking  volcanic 
cones  rise  in  more  imposing  grandeur  above  the  surrounding  sea  of 
verdure,  all  carpeted  with  the  brightest  flowers.  In  these  enchanting 
regions  there  is  still  room  for  millions  and  millions  of  human  beings. 

The  following  table  prepared  by  the  Meteorological  Observatory  of 
the  City  of  Mexico  shows  the  meteorological  conditions  of  the 
principal  Mexican  cities  during  several  years,  their  elevation  upon  the 
sea-level  being  marked  in  metres  and  the  temperature  under  the 
Centigrade  scale. 


SUMMARY     OF    THE    METEOROLOGICAL    OBSERVATIONS  TAKEN    IN    SEVERAL 
CITIES    OF    MEXICO    DURING    SEVERAL    YEARS. 


LOCALITIES. 

rt 
_1 

fc 

a 

ITS 
rt  % 

4-»-* 

S* 

33  M 

H 

Number  of  years  1  1 
of  observation. 

Mean  barometrical 
pressure. 

TEMPERATURES 
IN   THE   SHADE. 

Relative  humidity.  | 

CLOUDS. 

WIND. 

Rainfall.  Average 
for  a  year. 

X 
• 

£ 

e" 
'£ 

1 

> 

•< 

j?g 

"S'o 

>     OJ 

<U    £ 

H 

1.1 

*c3  tj 

>  a) 

s.S 

Oi-o 

if 

S| 

0        / 

25   40 

25  25 

24  48 
24  II 

22    46 
22       C 

22       4 

21  53 

21    4I 

21     7 

m. 
495-6 
1633.0 
34-2 
4.0 
2496. 
1890. 
1924. 
1861. 
376. 
1798. 

i 

4 

i 

4 

10 

9 
10 

i 
i 
*4 
5 

2 

7 
3 

i 
i 

mm. 
709.1 
632.1 
754-9 
759-3 
573-4 
613.4 
607.8 
605.1 
765-1 
617.4 
601.3 
763-o 
636.2 
613.8 
574-8 

0 

33-2 
34-o 
35-9 
34-i 

21.8 

33-9 
24.0 

29-5 
34-o 
35-6 
3°-7 

35-5 
33-i 
27.2 

0 

n'l 

—2.8 
J2-5 

10.3 

6.1 
—1.8 

12.2 
2.8 
10.  0 

—  I  .  I 
i-3 

-4-5 
"0.6 

0 
21.0 

16.8 
25-6 
25.2 
13.2 
17.4 
18.2 
18.6 
23-0 
18.9 
17.6 
24-5 
19.7 
18.1 
I3-7 
18-3 

61 

62 

3 

60 

57 

8i 

66 

53 
59 
59 
60 

4-4 

.  .  .  „  .  .  . 

S.E. 

N. 

1.4 

mm. 
34I3-5 
527-3 
125.2 
519-2 
819.1 
389-0 
537-0 
542-2 
2019.3 
729.8 
964-5 
1654-3 
861.9 
602.2 
436-8 
567-1 
1110.4 
614.8 
668.1 
926.0 
2264.0 
649-3 

Saltillo    Coah            

3-4 
3-2 
4-4 
4.0 

N.W. 
S.E. 
W. 
S.S.E. 

N.W. 
S.E. 
E. 
W.S.W. 

N 

i.7 

2.6 

i-3 

1.2 

San  Luis  Potosi,  S.  L.  P. 
Pabellon    Ag  

Aguascalientes,  Ag  
Huejutla,  Hid  

4-9 
5-3 
4-3 

'  s.w.'  ' 

N.'N'.W'. 

"0.6 

20  59 

20    41 

20  35 
20     7 
19  49 

I567- 
1850. 
2460. 
1976. 

N.W. 

w. 

.... 

Guadalajara,    Jal  

4.1 

4.2 
3-5 
4-3 
5-o 

4-7 

4.8 

'  S.W.'  ' 
E. 
E. 
S.W. 

E'.N'.E.' 

N. 

E. 

N.E. 
N.E. 
W. 
N.W. 
N.W. 
N.E. 
N.E. 
W. 

o  6 

2  4 

'o  8 
1  9 

Pachuca    Hid             .... 

San  Juan  del  Rio,  Que.  . 

Mexico   D    F 

19  26 

•19    12 
I9    03 

18  36 
17  04 

2282. 
2322. 
2172. 

3- 
1541.0 

15 
9 
J4 

i 
i 

586.4 
583.6 
593-2 
760.4 
636.6 

31.6 
28.6 
3i-9 

—1.7 
0.8 
—  i.i 

iS-4 
iS-5 

*5-7 
25.3 

20.6 

60 
62 

£ 

80 

Tacubaya   D    F  

Puebla,  Pue  
Tlacotalpam,  Ver  

32-9 

6.2 

Climate. 


39 


KEN  I 
1869. 


CAL  OBSERVATI 
DURING  THE 


•pU009S  J3d 

-oopA  uinunx 


APO 
ION 


Prevailing 
direction. 


•puooas  aad  A"}I 


Dominan 
direction. 


JU(UIB 

-UB    U 


jo 


Rainiest 
Month. 


S  : 


•^ 

5 


.010 


S  txv 

g  M 

B 


t~.H 
Ot^ 


TEMPERATUR 
IN  THE  SHAD 


METRIC 
E  RED 
TO  0°. 


me 


•T53S  3X{} 


CM 


H    • 

C     * 
B 


.  . 

-r-- 


c*  ••^•ioco*O'<t"»^hcot^'Ci 


oo  q  n  c>«  .  . 

•*•  -*-vo   f»  -»f        CO  •*  10        vo-^-vr,  -rrocn-^-.ro-^-ro-^-. 


o  fxoo  oo  M  o  o\oo  o       M 


M    0 
D~OO 


SIS. 


O<5 


iit$&i£t& 
SfSSSiM 


I  00    1000  00    M    -4-VO 


•*«  <>  o  \o  ts  OMO  moo  i-oo  t. 
•  fll  M  o  ct  do  oo  n  M  14  ^M  ^ 

txvo   (?jvo  vo 


txf«0\t-»         OOOfO         N-^-  O-OO    t>.  O>OO    IN  VO  VO    OVO      •      •    f)    M 
OOO«         t^M^        -J-  <^  LT>  IN   10  0  oo    OvOO   •*  Oi  •«•    •     •   10  »O 


1         i 


vo^fO^-^OfOOH         H   co  H  vo  O   H  ^"VO  "$-00   W  oo     •   M   M  in 
cocococoro'«'CO'*-co       ro^cococococowcowcoc*    •  co  ro  co 


m-*in       vr>-*-MiOMOvOOHONf)O<';-«fOvo 


o>o> 

•*  "^ 


•*•  d>  M  >-•'  oo*  rn  N  oo  oo"  w  ci  vo'  d  M  o 
vovoo>  OvWM^-r^owio  rovo  N  vo 
t-.  ts.  to  to  t-,vo  vo  >0  Svo  *rjvo  iovo  io 


vo  -^od  vo  f^i  -^vo  oo'cJvOvOvo  "wwvd 
OO  M  Q  m  t~>  ON  M  ^-  fr>  10  M  «o  •  vo  S.  rn 
»0  txvO  vo  «0  »ovo  lOVO  UVO  10  ;  ti.  lovo 


00*00 


°10<ON°     °O00000000000 


. 

::::  :     : 


illl 


40  (Beoarapbical  iRotes  on  /iDejico. 

The  table  on  page  39  shows  the  results  of  the  meteorological  ob- 
servations taken  in  the  principal  cities  of  Mexico  during  the  year  1896. 

Professor  Mariano  Barcena,  director  of  our  National  Meteorological 
Observatory  or  Weather  Bureau,  furnished  me  the  following  data  about 
the  maximum  and  minimum  of  temperature  and  greatest  oscillation 
both  in  summer  and  winter  of  several  cities  in  Mexico,  located  both  at 
the  sea-level  like  Merida  and  Mazatlan,  at  different  altitudes  like  Jalapa, 
San  Luis  Potosi,  Oaxaca,  and  at  the  highest  level  like  the  cities  of 
Mexico,  Pachuca,  and  Zacatecas,  showing  the  mildness  of  the  Mexi- 
can climate. 


CITY   OF    MEXICO. 

Maximum  temperature  in  the  shade  in  summer 84.9,  May  5th. 

Maximum  temperature  in  winter 72.0,  December. 

Minimum  temperature  in  winter 32.9,  January  and  February. 

Greatest  oscillation  in  one  day  in  winter 13.7 

Greatest  oscillation  in  one  day  in  summer 32.9 

PUEBLA  (STATE  OF  PUEBLA). 

Maximum  temperature  in  the  shade  in  summer 83.8,  April. 

Maximum  temperature  in  winter 74. 7,  February. 

Minimum  temperature  in  winter 32.9,  January. 

Greatest  oscillation  in  one  day  in  winter 36.3 

Greatest  oscillation  in  one  day  in  summer 34.4 

OAXACA  (STATE  OF  OAXACA). 

Maximum  temperature  in  the  shade  in  summer 93- 7>  May. 

Maximum  temperature  in  winter 83.1,  February. 

Minimum  temperature  in  winter 39-2,  January  and  December, 

Greatest  oscillation  in  one  day  in  winter 39. 1 

Greatest  oscillation  in  one  day  in  summer 37.8 

JALAPA  (STATE  OF  VERACRUZ). 

Maximum  temperature  in  shade  in  summer 89.6,  April. 

Maximum  temperature  in  winter 87.1,  December. 

Minimum  temperature  in  winter 33. 8,  February. 

Greatest  oscillation  in  one  day  in  winter 35.3 

Greatest  oscillation  in  one  day  in  summer 32.0 

QUERETARO  (STATE  OF  QUERETARO). 

Maximum  temperature  in  the  shade  in  summer 90.1,  April  and  June. 

Maximum  temperature  in  winter  . . 80.4,  December. 

Minimum  temperature  in  winter 32.9,  January. 

Greatest  oscillation  in  one  day  in  winter 39.4 

Greatest  oscillation  in  one  day  in  summer 34.7 


Climate.  4i 

GUANAJUATO  (STATE  OF  GUANAJUATO). 

Maximum  temperature  in  the  shade  in  summer 91.9,  April. 

Maximum  temperature  in  winter 82.0,  February. 

Minimum  temperature  in  winter 36.0,  January. 

Greatest  oscillation  in  one  day  in  winter 36. 7 

Greatest  oscillation  in  one  day  in  summer 36.7 

LEON  (STATE  OF  GUANAJUATO). 

Maximum  temperature  in  the  shade  in  summer 91-6,  May  and  June. 

Maximum  temperature  in  winter 77«o,  February. 

PACHUCA  (STATE  OF  HIDALGO). 

Maximum  temperature  in  the  shade  in  summer 80.2,  May. 

Maximum  temperature  in  winter 77-O,  December. 

Minimum  temperature  in  winter 32.4,  December. 

Greatest  oscillation  in  one  day  in  winter 33.3 

Greatest  oscillation  in  one  day  in  summer 28.6 

REAL  DEL  MONTE  (STATE  OF  HIDALGO). 

Maximum  temperature  in  the  shade  in  summer 80.2,  March. 

Maximum  temperature  in  winter 74.  i,  January. 

Minimum  temperature  in  winter 31.6,  January. 

SALTILLO  (STATE  OF  COAHUILA). 

Maximum  temperature  in  the  shade  in  summer 89.6,  April. 

Maximum  temperature  in  winter 75-7,  January. 

Minimum  temperature  in  winter 12.2,  February. 

Greatest  oscillation  in  one  day  in  winter 32.8 

Greatest  oscillation  in  one  day  in  summer 25.6 

MERIDA  (STATE  OF  YUCATAN). 

Maximum  temperature  in  the  shade  in  summer 103.6,  April  and  June. 

Maximum  temperature  in  winter 92.8,  January. 

Minimum  temperature  in  winter 47.8,  February. 

Greatest  oscillation  in  one  day  in  winter 37.1 

Greatest  oscillation  in  one  day  in  summer 38.7 

MAZATLAN  (STATE  OF  SINALOA). 

Maximum  temperature  in  the  shade  in  summer 91.0,  September. 

Maximum  temperature  in  winter 84.0,  December. 

Minimum  temperature  in  winter 15.8,  February. 

Greatest  oscillation  in  one  day  in  winter 16.9 

Greatest  oscillation  in  one  day  in  summer 17.5 

MEXICO    AS   A    SANITARIUM. 

Although  the  City  of  Mexico,  on  account  of  its  present  unsatisfac- 
tory sanitary  conditions,  of  which  I  will  treat  in  speaking  of  that  city 
and  which  I  am  sure  will  be  remedied  before  long,  cannot  be  consid- 
ered now  as  the  best  place  for  invalids,  there  are  many  other  localities 
in  the  country  presenting  great  advantages  as  sanitariums. 


42  Oeoarapbical  fRotes  on  fl&ejico, 

The  mild  nature  and  evenness  of  most  of  our  climate  is  very  favor- 
able to  certain  diseases — especially  pulmonary  ones — and  when  that 
advantage  becomes  well  known  the  central  plateau  of  Mexico  will  be 
the  best  sanitarium  for  lung  diseases,  and  especially  for  tuberculosis. 
Other  lung  diseases  requiring  a  warmer  climate  could  find  desirable 
places  in  certain  valleys  in  the  temperate  zone  like  Cuantla,  Cuerna- 
vaca,  Tasco,  Iguala,  and  others.  These  very  conditions,  namely,  the 
even  and  mild  climate  both  in  summer  and  winter,  will  make  it  a  coun- 
try visited  by  thousands  of  pleasure  or  health  seekers  who  wish  to 
escape  both  extremes  of  the  northern  climate.  Even  now  we  would 
have  a  much  larger  travel  from  this  country  if  we  had  convenient  ac- 
commodations for  travellers,  but  our  hotels  are  not  yet  as  comfortable 
as  those  in  the  United  States. 

FLORA. 

The  short  and  imperfect  description  of  the  climate  of  Mexico, 
made  above,  will  show  that  we  can  raise  all  the  products  of  the 
three  different  zones  into  which  the  earth  is  divided,  and  the  most  re- 
markable thing  is  that  we  can  raise  them  almost  on  the  same  ground. 
By  going  only  a  few  miles,  for  instance,  travelling  on  horseback  four 
or  five  hours  from  a  low  to  a  higher  locality,  we  change  from  the  torrid 
to  the  temperate  zone,  and  therefore  we  can  have  the  products  of  both 
with  comparatively  little  trouble  ;  and  by  going  four  or  five  hours 
higher  still,  we  change  from  the  temperate  to  the  frigid  zone,  and  these 
are  advantages  of  our  geographical  position  which  can  be  appreciated 
only  by  those  who  have  experienced  them.1 

!Mr.  Charles  Dudley  Warner,  editor  of  Harpers  Monthly  Magazine,  in  a 
brilliant  article  published  in  the  July,  1897,  number  of  that  periodical,  gives  the  follow- 
ing description  of  the  rapid  descent  from  the  cold  to  the  temperate  and  hot  regions  of 
Mexico,  which  may  be  considered  as  a  specimen  of  the  scenery  in  many  other 
localities  of  that  country.  In  many  other  places,  where  there  are  no  wagon-roads, 
but  only  a  footpath,  the  descent  is  a  great  deal  more  rapid,  often  5000  feet  in 
four  or  five  miles,  and  then  the  contrast  is  still  greater.  At  Maltrata  for  instance,  an 
Indian  town  about  5000  feet  above  the  level  of  the  sea,  the  natives  offer  their  tropical 
fruits  to  the  passengers  of  the  Mexican  Railway  going  from  Veracruz  to  the  City  of 
Mexico,  and  they  leave  with  what  they  have  left  after  the  train  starts  to  climb  the 
mountains  to  the  Central  Plateau  to  an  altitude  of  about  9000  feet,  and  they  reach 
Esperanza,  the  first  station  on  the  Central  Plateau  far  ahead  of  the  train,  which  has  to 
•describe  a  long,  zigzag  course  before  getting  there.  I  have  selected  the  following  ex- 
tract from  Mr.  Warner's  article  because  it  relates  to  one  of  the  historical  places  of 
Mexico  : 

"Cuernavaca  is  distinguished  as  the  actual  meeting-place  of  the  pine  and  the 
palm.  It  lies  only  a  little  more  than  fifty  miles  south  of  the  City  of  Mexico  ;  but  in 
•order  to  reach  it  there  is  a  mountain  to  be  crossed  which  is  at  an  elevation  of  over  ten 
thousand  feet.  A  railway  climbs  up  this  mountain,  over  the  summit,  to  a  wind-swept 
plain,  in  the  midst  of  pine  forests,  called  Tres  Marias — marked  by  the  sightly  peaks 
of  the  Three  Marys.  By  long  loops  and  zigzags  it  is  crawling  down  the  mountain  on 


fflora,  43 

The  Mexican  Southern  Railway,  from  Puebla  to  Oaxaca,  descends 
in  a  few  hours,  by  a  series  of  fertile  terraces,  from  an  elevation  of  seven 
thousand  feet  to  one  of  about  seventeen  hundred  and  fifty  feet,  when 
ths  wonderful  Canon  de  los  Cues  is  reached,  a  region  of  cocoa-nuts  and 
bananas.  But  all  the  valleys  and  terraces  in  March  are  green  or  yellow 
with  wheat  and  corn  and  sugar-cane.  It  confuses  one's  ideas  to  pass  a 
field  of  wheat,  the  green  blades  just  springing  from  the  ground,  and 
then  a  field  ripe  for  harvest,  and  then  a  threshing-floor  where  the  grain 
is  being  trodden  out  by  mules.  This  means  that  you  can  plant  and 
reap  every  day  in  the  year,  if  you  can  obtain  water  in  the  dry  season, 
and  do  not  wait  for  the  regular  and  copious  summer  rains. 

The  magnificent  arboreal  vegetation  embraces  one  hundred  and 
fourteen  different  species  of  building  timber  and  cabinet  woods,  includ- 
ing oaks,  pines,  firs,  cedars,  mahogany,  and  rosewood  ;  twelve  species 
of  dyewoods  ;  eight  of  gum  trees  :  the  cacao  and  india-rubber,  copal, 
liquid-ambar,  camphor,  turpentine,  pine,  mezquite  yielding  a  substance 

the  other  side  to  Cuernavaca.  Mexico  City  has  an  elevation  of  seven  thousand  five 
hundred  feet,  Tres  Marias  of  about  ten  thousand,  and  Cuernavaca  of  five  thousand. 
The  descent  by  the  wagon-road  is  in  length  only  twelve  miles,  but  the  drop  in  that 
distance  is  five  thousand  feet,  so  that  the  traveller  passes  very  quickly  from  temperate 
to  tropical  conditions.  .  .  . 

"  From  the  heights  Cuernavaca  seems  to  lie  in  a  plain,  but  it  is  really  on  a  pro- 
montory between  two  barrancas,  and  the  whole  country  beyond  is  broken,  till  the 
terraces  fall  off  into  more  tropical  places,  where  the  view  is  bordered  by  purple 
mountains.  Indeed,  the  little  city  in  the  midst  of  this  tumultuous  plain  is  surrounded 
by  lofty  mountains.  The  country  around,  and  especially  below  to  the  south,  is  irri- 
gated, and  presents  a  dozen  contrasts  of  color  in  the  evergreen  foliage,  the  ripening 
yellow  crops  of  sugar-cane  and  grain,  the  clusters  of  big  trees  here  and  there  about  a 
village  or  a  hacienda,  and  the  frequent  church-towers.  All  this  is  loveliness,  a  mixture 
of  temperate  and  tropical  grace,  but  there  is  grandeur  besides.  Looking  to  the  east, 
say  from  the  Palace  of  Cortez,  over  the  fields  of  purple  and  green  and  yellow  and 
brown,  where  the  graceful  palms  place  themselves  just  as  an  artist  would  have  them 
in  the  foreground  of  his  picture,  the  view  is  certainly  one  of  the  finest  in  the  world. 
There  is  in  the  left  the  long  mountain  range  with  the  peaks  of  Tres  Marias,  and  along 
the  foot  of  it  haciendas  and  towers,  cones  of  extinct  volcanoes  and  noble  rocky 
promontories.  To  form  the  middle-distance  mountains  come  into  the  picture,  sloping 
together  to  lead  the  eye  along  from  one  "  value"  to  another,  violet,  purple,  dark  or 
shining  as  the  sun  strikes  them,  while  on  the  left  is  a  noble  range  of  naked  precipices 
of  red  rock,  always  startling  in  color.  It  is  some  two  thousand  feet  up  the  side  of 
one  of  these  red  cliffs  that  there  is  the  remains  of  an  ancient  city  of  Cliff-dwellers — 
almost  inaccessible  now,  but  once  the  home  of  a  race  that  understood  architecture  and 
knew  how  to  carve.  The  lines  of  this  natural  picture,  the  fields,  the  intervening 
ledges,  the  lofty  mountains,  all  converge  to  the  spot  the  artist  would  choose  for  the 
eye  to  rest,  and  there,  up  in  the  heavens,  are  the  snow-clad  peaks  of  Popocatepetl 
and  Iztaccihuatl,  about  seventeen  thousand  five  hundred  feet  above  the  sea,  volcanic 
creators  of  the  region,  and  now  undisputed  lords  of  the  landscape.  In  the  evening  these 
peaks  are  rosy  in  the  sun  ;  in  the  morning  their  white  immobility  is  defined  against 
the  rosy  sunshine." 


44  6eo0rapbical  motes  on  flDejico, 

similar  to  gum-arabic,  dragon  trees,  and  the  almacigo  or  Callitris 
quadvalvis,  from  which  sandarac  is  extracted.  Among  the  oil-bearing 
trees  and  plants,  of  which  there  are  seventeen  varieties,  are  the  olive, 
cocoa  palm,  almond,  sesame,  flax,  the  tree  yielding  the  balsam  of  Peru, 
and  others.  There  are  fifty-nine  classified  species  of  medicinal  plants, 
and  many  more  are  mentioned  by  botanists  as  still  unclassified  by 
science. 

Of  the  many  delicious  fruits  which  grow  in  the  tropical  regions, 
only  a  few — the  pineapple,  the  banana,  and  the  cocoa-nut — are  known 
in  this  country,  the  orange  being  rather  a  semi-tropical  fruit.  The 
others  require,  as  all  fruits  do,  cultivated  taste,  and,  therefore,  if  im- 
ported here  would  not  find  a  market.  Even  those  which  do  come  here 
are  of  very  inferior  flavor,  owing  to  the  fact  that  they  are  cut  green  so 
as  to  prevent  their  decay  during  transportation,  and  they,  of  course, 
have  a  less  agreeable  taste  than  in  the  place  where  they  grow.  Of  the 
banana,  for  instance,  we  have  about  twenty  varieties,  some  of  which — 
the  richest  in  my  opinion — grow  to  a  size  from  twelve  to  fifteen  inches 
in  length  and  from  two  to  three  inches  in  diameter. 

We  can  raise  in  Mexico  all  the  products  of  the  world  because  we 
have  all  climates,  from  the  perpetual  snow  to  the  burning  sun  of  the 
equator  ;  but  it  would  take  a  great  deal  more  space  than  I  can  dispose 
of  in  this  paper,  to  mention  all  the  agricultural  products  we  can  raise, 
and  I  will,  therefore,  confine  myself  to  only  such  as  I  think  are  now  of 
more  importance. 

Coffee. — Mexico  has  many  localities  well  suited  for  the  raising  of 
coffee,  and  the  production  of  that  berry  can  in  the  future  be  very 
largely  increased.  In  the  proper  locality,  namely,  zone,  ground,  and 
climate,  coffee  can  be  raised  on  a  large  scale  at  comparatively  small 
cost,  affording  always  a  large  profit,  whatever  may  be  in  the  future  its 
price  in  foreign  markets. 

I  have  had  personal  experience  in  coffee-raising,  having  made  a 
coffee  plantation  in  the  district  of  Soconusco,  in  the  State  of  Chiapas  ; 
and  I  took  especial  interest  in  visiting  other  plantations,  both  in  Mexico 
and  Guatemala,  where  coffee  had  attained  a  large  development.  My 
experience  has  shown  me  that  the  best  zone  for  coffee  is  located  between 
one  and  five  thousand  feet  above  the  level  of  the  sea,  as  coffee  is  not  a 
product  of  the  hot  but  of  the  temperate  zone.  On  the  highlands,  as  a 
rule,  the  quality  of  the  coffee  is  better  and  the  yield  large,  while  the 
lowlands  give  an  earlier  but  smaller  yield.  There  are  coffee  planta- 
tions in  Mexico,  almost  down  to  the  level  of  the  sea,  which  are  yielding 
coffee,  and  from  that  to  the  elevation  of  six  thousand  feet,  producing 
also  a  very  good  quality  of  coffee.  For  further  information  on  this 
subject,  I  refer  the  reader  to  a  treatise  on  coffee-raising  on  the  south- 
ern coast  of  the  State  of  Chiapas,  which  T  published  in  the  City  of 


ffiora.  45 

Mexico  in  1874,  and  which  contains  detailed  information  on  the  sev- 
eral factors  affecting  that  industry. 

It  is  interesting  to  know  the  production  of  coffee  in  Mexico,  taken 
from  some  statistics  for  1896  : 

Cordoba  produces 10,000,000  Ibs. 

Huatusco  and  Coatepec 10,000,000    " 

Oaxaca 6,000,000    " 

Tabasco 5,000,000    " 

Chiapas 3,000,000    " 

Other  districts 26,000,000    " 


60,000,000  Ibs. 

Sugar-Cane. — Mexico  has  many  localities  where  sugar-cane  can  be 
raised  at  a  very  small  cost,  and  where  that  industry  can  be  made  very 
lucrative,  although  we  hardly  produce  enough  sugar  for  our  home  con- 
sumption. From  the  sea-level  to  the  frost  line,  which  ranges,  in  differ- 
ent localities,  from  three  to  five  thousand  feet  above  the  sea-level, 
sugar-cane  can  be  raised  in  Mexico  to  great  advantage.  I  have  seen 
the  cane  in  some  places,  especially  in  Soconusco,  attain  a  height  of 
twelve  feet  and  a  diameter  of  about  five  inches  ;  and  in  some  localities 
it  lasts  from  ten  to  eighteen  years  without  need  of  replanting,  and  can 
be  cut  for  grinding  twice  a  year.  When  it  is  considered  that  in  some 
places,  like  Louisiana,  sugar  has  to  be  planted,  as  I  believe,  every  two 
years,  and  that  it  is  liable  to  be  destroyed  by  frosts,  the  advantages  of 
Mexico  for  that  industry  are  apparent. 

The  favorable  conditions  of  Mexico  for  raising  sugar-cane  are  so 
great  that  I  have  seen  the  natives  in  the  Indian  town  of  Loxicha,  in 
the  State  of  Oaxaca,  plant  a  small  plot  of  sugar-cane,  grind  it  with 
primitive  wooden  mills  moved  by  hand  power,  using  very  primitive 
earthen  pans,  to  evaporate  the  juice  and  make  brown  sugar — losing  of 
course  a  great  part  of  the  saccharine  matter  in  the  cane, — transport  the 
sugar,  sometimes  a  distance  of  thirty  miles  on  mule-back,  and  sell  it  at 
one  cent  per  pound,  and  still  make  a  profit. 

For  sugar-cane  the  lowlands  are  the  best,  and  the  plant  is  essen- 
tially a  tropical  one.  It  will  grow,  however,  at  very  considerable  alti- 
tudes, but  when  planted  in  the  mountains  it  takes  a  longer  time  to 
ripen,  and  soon  ceases  to  give  remunerative  crops.  There  was  in 
southern  Veracruz  a  sugar-cane  only  six  months  old  which  had  a 
circumference  of  7}  inches.  Where  that  cane  grew  the  yield  of  cane 
per  acre  was  about  80  tons  when  twelve  months  old.  The  elevation 
was  something  like  1000  feet.  It  is  true,  however,  that  the  bulk  of 
the  cane  grown  in  Mexico  is  to  be  found  above  2000  feet,  but  I  am 
convinced  that  a  lower  altitude  would  produce  even  better  results. 

Tobacco. — Among  the  tropical  products  of  superior  quality  that  we 


46  Geograpbical  notes  on 

raise  in  the  hot  zone,  I  should  mention  tobacco,  the  Mexican  tobacco 
being,  in  General  Grant's  estimation,  superior  to  the  Havana  article. 
The  natural  conditions  of  soil  and  temperature  are  the  same  in  Cuba 
and  Mexico,  but  we  had  not  the  superior  experience  of  the  Cubans  in 
curing  the  leaf  until  the  late  insurrection  broke  out  in  Cuba,  in  i868r 
when  a  great  many  Cubans  went  to  Mexico  to  plant  tobacco.  As  the 
land  has  been  planted  in  Cuba  with  tobacco  for  nearly  four  hundred 
years,  and  as  tobacco  is  a  very  exhausting  crop,  it  has  become  indis- 
pensable to  manure  the  land  with  guano,  while  in  Mexico  we  have 
virgin  land,  and  tobacco  being  a  comparatively  new  industry,  no  guano- 
needs  to  be  used.  General  Grant,  whom  I  consider  a  competent 
judge,  detected  the  taste  of  guano  in  the  Havana  cigars,  of  which  ours 
is  free,  and  he,  therefore,  preferred  to  smoke  the  Mexican  cigars. 

In  Cuba  the  exhausted  soil  cannot  produce  all  the  leaves  that  are 
required  for  the  world's  supply  of  Havana  cigars,  and  the  want  caa 
only  be  filled  through  the  use  of  Mexico  leaf  tobacco,  the  weed 
produced  in  other  countries  having  similar  conditions.  The  Marquis 
de  Cabanas  sent  to  Sumatra  a  quantity  of  seed  when  it  became  obvi- 
ous that  the  soil  of  the  tobacco  region  of  Cuba  was  fast  being  worn  out. 
He  sent  seed  also  to  Java  and  to  the  United  States,  but  it  was  found 
that  it  was  impossible  to  raise  tobacco  of  the  quality  of  that  raised  in 
Havana  anywhere  but  in  Mexico.  That  raised  in  Java  from  Havana 
seed  was  very  coarse  and  rank,  replete  with  nicotine  and  meconic 
acid,  and  devoid  of  those  delicate  essential  oils  that  give  the  Havana 
and  Mexican  tobacco  their  fine  aroma. 

The  tobacco  plant  is  a  native  of  the  tropics,  and  thrives  best  in  the 
hot  lands.  It  is  a  hardy  plant,  however,  and  will  grow  well  in  northern 
latitudes  in  the  summer  time.  It  often  happens  that  the  land  in  the 
tropics  is  actually  too  rich  for  the  successful  cultivation  of  tobacco. 

India- Rubber. — The  lowlands  of  Mexico,  especially  those  adjoining; 
the  Pacific  Ocean  and  which  have  a  very  warm  and  moist  climate,  are 
very  well  adapted  for  the  india-rubber  tree,  which  attains  a  large  size 
and  yields  a  considerable  amount  of  india-rubber.  We  used  to  have 
whole  forests  of  them,  which  fact  shows  that  they  were  in  their  proper 
conditions  of  soil  and  climate,  as  they  could  outgrow  the  rank  vegeta- 
tion of  the  tropics,  and  prevent  the  growth  of  most  of  the  other  large 
trees  in  the  forests  ;  but  india-rubber  gatherers  have  destroyed  most  of 
them,  and  I  imagine  that  there  is  a  comparatively  small  number  left. 

I  have  always  thought  that  the  production  of  india-rubber  would 
before  long  cease  to  be  sufficient  to  supply  the  demand,  and  that, 
therefore,  the  value  of  that  article  would  increase  with  the  lapse  of 
time.  Now  it  is  to  be  expected  that  the  enormous  expansion  during 
the  last  few  years  of  the  cycle-tire,  electrical  motor-car,  cab,  and 
kindred  industries  will  lead  to  the  bestowal  of  increased  attention  on 


Jflora,  47 

the  world's  rubber  supply,  which  is  so  intimately  associated  with  the 
existence  of  these  industries. 

Thinking  that  a  plantation  of  india-rubber  trees  would  be  very  re- 
munerative, I  devoted  considerable  attention  to  that  subject,  and  in 
1872  started  one  of  100,000  trees  in  a  place  admirably  located  for  the 
purpose,  bordering  on  the  Pacific  Ocean  and  between  two  large  rivers, 
in  the  same  district  of  Soconusco.  In  an  article  published  in  1872, 
under  the  title  "  India- Rubber  Culture  in  Mexico,"  I  compiled  all  the 
information  on  the  subject  that  I  could  obtain,  supplementing  it  with 
the  experience  that  I  had  acquired.  Unfortunately,  for  reasons  of  a 
political  nature,  I  had  to  abandon  that  plantation,  and  when  the  trees- 
that  I  had  planted  grew  large  enough  to  yield  rubber,  they  were  tapped 
by  the  natives  and  entirely  destroyed,  but  my  work  gave  me  an  experi- 
ence which  I  considered  of  great  value.  For  further  information  on 
this  subject  I  refer  the  reader  to  the  above  mentioned  article. 

The  india-rubber  trees  that  grow  in  Mexico  are  not  the  Haevca 
guianensis  that  grows  in  Brazil,  but  the  Castilloa  elastica,  and  if  we 
have  any  of  the  Haevea  guianensis  I  have  not  seen  them. 

Enough  has  been  written  lately  on  rubber  cultivation  to  show  that 
the  profits,  in  Mexico  at  least,  would  be  very  great ;  indeed,  300  per 
cent,  on  the  capital  invested  is  a  possible  return,  after  five  years,  from 
cultivating  Castilloa  elastica  in  that  Republic.  This  is  a  return  which 
provides  plenty  of  margin  for  contingencies.  Rubber-growing  is  no- 
longer  in  the  experimental  stage,  as  witness  the  plantation  of  La  Esme- 
ralda,  in  Oaxaca,  to  which  further  reference  is  made  below.  Culti- 
vated india-rubber  plantations  are  few,  for  the  reason  that,  in  some 
degree  like  the  coffee  plant,  the  india-rubber  tree  requires  a  long  period 
of  continuous  cultivation  before  making  any  return  to  the  cultivator. 
Mexico  affords  excellent  opportunities  for  the  development  of  this 
admittedly  profitable  industry.  On  this  point  the  authority  of  Sir 
Henry  Nevil  Dering,  the  British  Minister  to  Mexico,  who,  in  a  recent 
report  to  the  Foreign  Office  on  the  cultivation  of  india-rubber,  says  : 
"  The  regions  most  favorable  for  the  growth  of  this  important,  yet 
rarely  cultivated,  india-rubber  tree  are  the  plains  of  Pochutla, 
Oaxaca,  and  also  along  the  banks  of  the  Copalita  River  where  the 
tree  is  found  in  astonishing  numbers.  Few  are  the  plantations  of 
india-rubber  trees  existing  in  the  Republic  of  Mexico.  The  principal 
one  is  La  Esmeralda,  in  Juquila,  Oaxaca,  which  has  over  200,000 
trees,  eight  years  old."  According  to  the  same  report  the  total  ex- 
pense for  five  years'  cultivation  of  a  "  rubber  plantation  of  100,000 
trees  will  not  exceed  $25,000  in  silver  and  the  yield  of  100,000  trees 
at  the  first  year's  harvest  will  bring  the  planter  $120,000,  besides  the 
product  obtained  from  the  corn,  vanilla  beans,  cacao,  and  bananas 
raised  from  side  planting.  The  net  profit  on  the  investment,  after  de- 


48  CteOQrapbical  Botes  on  /IDejico. 

ducting  the  entire  cost  of  the  land  and  all  expenses  up  to  the  first  year 
of  harvesting,  will  be  $95,000,  and  each  of  the  succeeding  harvests, 
for  twenty-five  or  thirty  years,  will  bring  a  steady  income  of  over 
$100,000."  This  is  400  per  cent,  per  annum  net  profit  on  the  invest- 
ment. These  calculations  are  based  upon  the  production  of  a  five- 
year-old  tree,  but  the  report  adds  that  "  this  product  will  be  gradually 
increased  every  year  for  the  next  four  or  five  years." 

Cotton. — We  have  many  regions  in  Mexico  very  favorably  located 
for  the  cultivation  of  cotton.  I  am  aware  that  the  cotton-growers  of 
the  United  States  hold  that  what  they  call  their  cotton  belt  has  pecul- 
iar conditions  for  the  production  of  their  staple,  which,  in  their  opinion, 
do  not  exist  in  any  other  portion  of  the  globe,  and  they  believe,  there- 
fore, that  nobody  can  compete  with  them  in  this  regard.  Without  any 
intention  of  depreciating  the  advantages  of  the  cotton  belt  of  this 
country,  I  am  of  the  opinion  that  there  are  in  Mexico  lands  as  well 
adapted  for  the  production  of  cotton  as  the  best  in  this  country,  and 
in  some  regions  perhaps  better  ;  yet,  notwithstanding  these  advantages, 
and  although  our  wages  are  low,  cotton  is  produced  cheaper  in  the 
United  States,  and  is  sold  with  profit  by  the  planters  for  one-half  the 
price  that  it  commands  in  Mexico.  So  great  is  the  difference  in  the 
price  of  this  staple  in  the  two  countries  that,  notwithstanding  an  import 
duty  on  cotton  of  eight  cents  per  kilogram,  or  almost  five  cents  per 
pound,  which  is  equivalent  to  fifty  cents  ad  valorem,  we  import  from 
this  country  a  very  large  portion  of  the  cotton  we  manufacture.  I  do 
not  overlook  the  fact  that  cotton  is  raised  here  by  negro  labor,  which 
is  considerably  cheaper  than  white  labor,  but,  even  assuming  that 
wages  in  this  case  be  the  same  in  both  countries,  the  difference  in  cost 
is  so  great  that  some  other  factor  besides  labor  must  enter  into  the  ex- 
pense of  production. 

As  our  cotton  manufactories  are  increasing,  more  especially  be- 
cause of  the  protection  afforded  to  home  products  by  the  depreciation 
of  silver,  we  now  produce  only  about  one  half  of  the  cotton  we  manu- 
facture, and  have  to  import  the  other  half  from  the  United  States  ;  but 
I  am  sure  that  before  long  we  shall  not  only  produce  enough  for  our 
own  consumption  but  also  for  export. 

Agave. — The  whole  central  plateau  abounds  in  many  species  of 
agave,  which  are  used  for  several  purposes.  In  the  eastern  portion  of 
the  plateau,  that  is,  from  the  City  of  Mexico  towards  Veracruz,  in  the 
region  called  the  Plains  of  Apam,  the  agave  yields  a  large  quantity  of  a 
white  juice,  similar  in  appearance  to  milk,  which  when  fermented  is 
used  as  a  tonic,  and  is  an  intoxicating  beverage.  The  amount  of  alco- 
hol it  contains  is  small — about  7  per  cent.,  I  believe — but  imbibed  in 
large  quantities  it  is  quite  intoxicating.  The  use  of  this  beverage, 
called  pulque,  has  become  very  extensive  in  Mexico,  and  it  must  have 


fflora.  49 

very  superior  qualities  both  as  a  tonic  and  nutritive,  when  many  live 
on  nothing  but  corn  and  pulque.  In  the  mining  districts,  where  a 
great  deal  of  nervous  force  is  expended  working  in  a  high  temperature 
and  under  very  unhealthy  atmospheric  conditions,  this  drink  is  almost 
indispensable,  and  I  imagine  that  when  a  way  is  discovered  to  keep  it 
for  some  time,  and  its  medicinal  qualities  become  better  known,  it  will 
be  exported  in  considerable  quantities  and  used  by  foreign  countries. 
From  the  agave  of  other  districts  a  drink  is  made  called  mescal,  which 
has  some  remarkable  therapeutic  properties,  the  most  celebrated  being 
made  in  a  district  of  the  State  of  Jalisco  called  Tequila,  from  which 
it  takes  its  name  ;  and  in  the  very  dry  and  stony  regions  of  Yuca- 
tan another  species  of  agave  grows,  which  seems  to  derive  its  food 
wholly  from  the  atmosphere,  yielding  a  very  good  fibre,  much  like  ma- 
nilla,  which  we  now  export  in  large  quantities,  particularly  to  New 
York.  All  the  agave  yields  a  first-class  fibre  as  raw  material,  either  for 
paper  or  cordage — some  of  it  being  rather  coarse,  like  the  Yucatan 
henequen,  and  some  of  it  almost  as  fine  and  glossy  as  silk,  like  pita. 

Henequen. — By  far  the  most  important  of  our  fibre  industries  is  the 
cultivation  and  preparation  of  the  fibre  known  as  "  Sisal  hemp,"  so 
called  from  the  name  of  the  port  from  which  it  used  to  be  principally 
exported,  and  in  the  United  States  as  "  henequen  hemp."  The  plant 
which  produces  it  is  a  species  of  agave  which  flourishes  to  best  ad- 
vantage in  stony  and  arid  land  at  the  level  of  the  sea.  The  present 
prosperity  of  the  state  of  Yucatan,  a  large  proportion  of  which  is  too 
sterile  to  yield  any  other  crop,  is  due  almost  entirely  to  the  develop- 
ment of  this  industry.  The  plant  requires  very  little  cultivation,  and 
the  separation  and  cleaning  of  the  fibre  is  effected  very  cheaply.  The 
yield  of  fibre  is  estimated  at  the  rate  of  1000  to  1200  pounds  per  acre. 

Pulque. — The  pulque  plant  is  indigenous  to  Mexico,  often  growing 
wild  on  the  uplands,  where  for  months  and  years  at  a  time  no  rain 
falls  ;  and  it  is  also  largely  cultivated  on  the  Plains  of  Apam,  a  large 
tract  of  land  lying  in  the  States  of  Mexico,  Puebla,  and  Hidalgo, 
about  sixty  miles  east  of  the  City  of  Mexico.  The  plants  are  trans- 
planted when  two  or  three  years  old  with  much  care,  then  cultivated 
in  fields  especially  prepared  for  the  purpose,  each  acre  containing  from 
360  to  680  plants. 

Nature  requires  the  plant  to  be  milked,  when  the  liquor  is  ready  to 
flow,  for  the  use  of  man,  else  the  superfluity  of  juices  will  cause  the 
growth  of  a  thick  stem  from  the  centre  of  the  plant,  which  shoots  up 
some  ten  or  fifteen  feet,  putting  out  branches  at  the  top,  with  clus- 
ters of  yellowish  flowers.  These  branches  are  symmetrical,  and  the 
effect  is  like  a  lofty,  branched  candlestick. 

When  the  pulque  is  first  extracted,  before  the  process  of  fermenta- 
tion sets  in,  it  is  sweet  and  scentless,  and  in  this  state  is  preferred  by 


VOL.  1—4 


50  Geographical  IRotes  on 

those  unaccustomed  to  the  drink.  The  fermentation  takes  place  in 
tubs  constructed  for  the  purpose,  and  to  aid  or  expedite  the  process  a 
little  "  madre  pulque,"  or  pulque  mother,  is  added,  which  hastens  the 
chemical  change.  At  times  fermentation  is  retarded  by  a  cold  spell  at 
the  vats.  When  the  laborer  draws  the  sweet  sap  with  his  rude  siphon, 
made  either  of  a  gourd  or  a  calabash  and  a  hollow  horn  tip,  he  dis- 
charges the  contents  into  a  pig-  or  goat-skin  swinging  at  his  back.  The 
"  agua  miel "  in  this  stage  is  like  a  green  water  in  appearance  and  taste. 
Soon  carbonic  acid  is  formed,  and  it  becomes  milky,  and  resembles  in 
taste  very  good  cider.  The  amount  of  carbonic  acid  contained  is  so 
great,  and  the  decomposition  so  incredibly  rapid,  that  in  a  few  hours 
it  would  become  vinegar  if  not  closely  watched.  To  prevent  this  the 
pulque  dulce,  or  sweet  pulque,  is  poured  into  a  tinacal — an  oxhide 
strapped  to  a  square  wooden  frame,  and  capable  of  holding  a  consid- 
erable amount  of  the  liquid.  These  tinacals  are  of  various  sizes,  to 
meet  the  emergencies  of  the  situation. 

To  the  sweet  pulque  is  added  an  equal  proportion  of  milk,  and 
then  a  slight  dose  of  infusion  of  rennet.  This  is  not  enough  to  coagu- 
late it,  but  sufficient  to  induce  a  slight  amount  of  putrescence,  as  in 
cheese.  The  putrid  odor  and  flavor  of  pulque  as  sold  in  the  pulque 
shops  is  due  to  the  rennet  alone,  for  the  belief  that  this  is  caused  by 
the  flavor  of  the  pigskin,  in  which  it  is  brought  to  market,  is  without 
foundation. 

From  the  tinacal  it  is  poured  into  a  hogshead  by  means  of  pigskins, 
and  it  is  transferred  to  the  barrels  of  venders  from  the  hogsheads  of 
the  "  haciendado  "  by  means  of  the  same  skins. 

The  plants  are  wholly  independent  of  rain  and  storm,  and  are  of  a 
beautiful  deep-green  color.  The  pulque  is  carried  every  day  to  the 
City  of  Mexico,  by  special  trains,  in  "  barricas,"  or  large  tierces,  and 
by  "  cueros  de  pulque,"  or  pigskins  filled  with  the  liquid. 

The  plant  does  not  arrive  at  maturity  or  yield  its  sap  before  its 
eighth  year.  During  the  growth  of  the  plant  a  central  bulb  is  formed 
for  its  coming  juices.  This  is  scooped  out,  leaving  a  cavity  or  hole 
large  enough  to  hold  a  few  quarts.  This  cavity  is  made  in  the  bottom 
and  middle  of  the  plant.  The  juice  exudes  into  this  cavity  and  is 
taken  out  daily  by  being  sucked  into  a  long-necked  gourd  on  the 
siphon  principle,  by  the  Indian  laborers,  and  then  poured  into  the  tubs 
taken  to  the  fields  and  then  removed  to  the  vats. 

The  outlay  on  each  plant  up  to  maturity  is  calculated  generally  at 
about  $2,  and  the  return  is  from  $7  to  $10,  according  to  the  size  of  the 
plant.  Its  period  of  production  is  about  five  months,  and  each  plant 
supposed  to  yield  from  125  to  160  gallons  of  liquid  during  that  time. 

The  principal  regions  for  the  cultivation  of  the  maguey  are  the  arid 
limestone  chains  of  hills,  and  here,  in  many  places,  the  hole  for  the 


iflora.  51 

reception  of  the  young  plant  is  made  with  a  sort  of  crowbar  with  a 
sharp  point,  used  principally  in  the  quarrying  of  tepatate,  the  chief 
building  material  of  the  Mexican  capital.  It  is  usual  to  aid  the  young 
plant  by  putting  some  good  soil  into  the  hole.  These  young  plants  are 
suckers  which  the  mature  maguey  throws  out  on  all  sides,  and  which 
have  to  be  removed  before  the  heart  is  tapped  for  the  sweet  sap,  which 
is  the  "  agua  miel,"  or  honey  water,  of  the  pulque. 

The  leaves  of  the  pulque  plant  are  long  and  pointed,  with  prickles 
along  the  edges.  Sometimes  these  leaves  are  very  large,  and  the 
bunches  of  them  springing  from  the  common  stalk  are  enormous.  The 
bruised  leaves  are  made  into  a  kind  of  paper — a  rather  tough,  stiff,  and 
hard  paper — and  they  are  also  used  in  their  natural  state  as  a  thatch 
for  the  roofs  of  the  common  huts  or  houses  occupied  by  the  peons. 
A  kind  of  thread  is  also  made  from  the  fibrous  texture  of  the  leaves. 
A  rough  needle  and  pin  are  made  from  the  thorn,  and  from  the  root  a 
cheap  and  palatable  food  is  made. 

Cactus. — Mexico  is  often  called  "  the  land  of  the  cactus,"  and  the 
multitudinous  development  of  cactus  forms  in  that  country  cannot  be 
appreciated  by  any  one  who  has  not  seen  them  in  their  home  in  the 
hot  land.  There  is  a  species  known  as  the  giant  or  candelabra  cactus, 
which  has  a  single  stem,  from  which  spring  innumerable  branches,  the 
whole  plant  resembling  an  immense  candelabrum.  I  have  seen  in 
Oaxaca,  some  candelabra  cacti  about  twenty  feet  in  height  by  thirty 
in  diameter.  Some  cacti  shoot  in  single,  column-like  stems,  others  run 
like  leafless  vines,  and  others  resemble  needle  cushions  stuck  full  of 
needles. 

Cocoa. — Cocoa  is  produced  in  several  localities.  That  of  So- 
conusco,  in  the  State  of  Chiapas,  is  of  so  excellent  a  quality  that  when 
Mexico  was  a  colony  of  Spain  it  was  the  only  kind  used  by  the 
Spanish  royal  family.  On  account  of  the  expense  and  difficulty  of 
transportation,  and  the  cultivation  of  cheaper  quality  in  other  locali- 
ties, the  production  has  dwindled  down  to  an  insignificant  amount, 
and  now  hardly  enough  is  grown  to  supply  the  demand  in  that  dis- 
trict ;  but  it  is  universally  acknowledged  that  the  Soconusco  cocoa 
is  the  best  in  the  world. 

The  best  elevation  for  cocoa  is  from  300  to  1000  feet,  and  the  tree 
seldom  thrives  well  at  an  altitude  exceeding  3000  feet.  Warmth  and 
moisture  are  necessary  for  the  successful  cultivation  of  this  plant. 

The  State  of  Tabasco  produces  a  very  good  quality  of  cocoa, 
although  it  cannot  be  compared  with  that  of  Soconusco.  In  other 
places  it  grows  very  well  also,  but  for  various  reasons  the  production, 
instead  of  being  developed,  has  dwindled  down  until  it  is  not  enough 
for  home  consumption,  and  we  have  to  import  some,  especially  from 
Venezuela  and  Ecuador.  One  disadvantage  of  the  cocoa  industry  is 


52  <3eo0rapbicai  Botes  on  /IDejico, 

that  the  tree  requires  several  years  to  reach  maturity  and  to  bear  fruit, 
and  few  investors  can  afford  to  wait  the  necessary  time. 

Vanilla. — The  vanilla  bean  grows  very  luxuriantly  on  the  Gulf  coast 
of  Mexico,  and  it  has  been  for  some  time  a  very  profitable  production, 
especially  in  the  counties  of  Papamtla  and  Misantla,  in  the  State  of 
Veracruz,  on  account  of  the  excellent  quality  of  the  bean  and  the 
high  price  which  it  brings.  It  grows  in  a  region  which  is  subject  to 
intermittent  and  remittent  fevers,  and  sometimes  yellow  fever,  and 
where  labor  is  very  scarce  ;  for  these  reasons  it  has  not  attained  a 
greater  development.  I  hardly  think  there  is  any  locality  where  the 
vanilla  vine  grows  better  than  in  Mexico. 

Vanilla  requires  a  hot,  moist  climate,  and,  therefore,  the  lowlands 
are  best  suited  for  its  culture.  Very  little  of  the  vanilla  produced  in 
Mexico  is  at  present  grown  at  an  elevation  exceeding  1000  feet.  At 
the  same  time  it  is  claimed  that  in  some  places  it  thrives  up  to  3000 
feet. 

The  vines  will  usually  produce  considerable  vanilla  in  the  third 
year,  and  they  will  yield  considerably  more  during  the  fourth,  fifth, 
sixth,  and  seventh  years,  and  the  production  then  begins  to  decrease. 
But  before  this  time  new  rootlets  have  been  dropped  from  the  old 
plants,  which  form  new  vines  that  take  the  place  of  the  old  ones  ;  thus 
the  plantation  is  kept  in  a  state  of  continued  production.  The  central 
portion  of  the  Isthmus  of  Tehuantepec  is  one  of  the  most  suitable  re- 
gions for  its  cultivation,  as  much  wild  vanilla  is  found  growing  in  the 
forests  there. 

The  Mexican  vanilla  dealers  have  established  five  grades,  namely  : 
First,  vanilla  "  fina,"  or  legal,  the  beans  and  pods  of  six  and  a  half 
inches  long,  or  upwards,  short  in  the  neck,  sound  and  black,  and  the 
beans  which  become  split  or  open,  provided  they  have  the  foregoing 
qualities  and  the  split  does  not  extend  more  than  a  third  of  the  pod. 
This  class  is  again  divided  into  "terciada,"  which  is  composed  of  the 
shortest  pods  ;  "  primera  chica,"  "  primera  grande,"  "  marca  menor," 
and  "  marca  mayor,"  the  largest  of  all.  Second,  "  vanilla  chica," 
those  pods  which  differ  from  the  "  terciada  "  only  in  being  shorter,  two 
of  them  counting  as  one  of  the  first  class.  Third,  vanilla  "  zacate," 
the  pods  of  all  sizes,  which  are  off  color  through  being  gathered  before 
becoming  properly  ripe,  or  being  over-cured  ;  "  pescozuda,"  "  vana," 
"  cueruda,"  and  "  aposcoyonada,"  names  for  pods  in  a  more  or  less 
damaged  condition.  Fourth,  vanilla  "  cimarrona,"  the  wild  vanilla  in 
good  or  fair  condition,  three  pods  counting  as  one  of  the  first  class. 
Fifth,  the  "  rezacate,"  composed  of  the  very  short  pods  ;  of  those 
split  all  the  way  up  to  the  stalk,  of  the  badly  damaged,  of  the  very 
immature,  and  of  the  greatly  over-cured  ;  of  this,  six  pods  count  as 
one  of  the  first  class. 


flora*  53 

After  the  sizing  and  classification  are  finished,  the  pods  are  tied  up 
in  bunches  of  100-150,  so  as  to  weigh  one  pound,  and  wrapped  in 
filtering  paper  and  tin  foil. 

Silk  Culture. — The  mulberry-tree  and  silkworm  industries  have  a 
very  great  future  in  Mexico,  and  are  destined  to  produce  a  veritable 
revolution  in  the  industries  of  the  central  plateau  of  that  country. 
The  mulberry  tree  can  be  grown  in  Mexico  almost  to  an  unlimited  ex- 
tent, especially  in  the  central  plateau,  and,  as  wages  are  low,  the  raw 
silk  can  be  manufactured  at  a  great  profit.  Several  experiments  have 
been  made  on  a  small  scale,  more  particularly  in  the  Valley  of  Mexico, 
by  Mr.  Hipolito  Chabon,  a  gentleman  of  French  descent,  and  he  has 
obtained  most  satisfactory  results.  I  have  no  doubt  that  the  time  is 
not  far  distant  when  the  silk  industry  will  assume  great  proportions  in 
Mexico,  and  we  will  be  able  to  stand  among  the  foremost  silk-producing 
countries  of  the  world. 

Cochineal. — The  cochineal  is  a  bug  which  feeds  on  the  cactus  ;  and 
which,  when  fully  developed,  is  brushed  off  the  cactus  leaves  and 
roasted  to  prevent  decomposition,  being  then  ready  for  market.  It  is 
raised  to  great  advantage  in  Mexico,  and  especially  in  the  valleys  of 
the  State  of  Oaxaca.  When  it  was  the  only  article  used  to  dye  red  it 
was  very  valuable,  commanding  sometimes  between  four  and  five  dol- 
lars per  pound,  and  it  made  the  wealth  of  that  State.  But  recent  dis- 
coveries in  chemistry  have  supplied  other  substances  for  dyeing  which 
are  very  cheap,  especially  aniline,  and  the  price  of  cochineal  has  fallen 
considerably,  so  that  now  it  is  hardly  raised  at  all.  When  it  had  a 
high  price,  it  was  raised  in  Guatemala,  and  it  was  the  beginning  of  the 
wealth  of  that  State.  It  is  now  raised,  I  understand,  in  several  other 
countries. 

Rice. — Rice  grows  very  well  in  Mexico,  and  I  have  not  seen  any 
district  where  it  is  necessary  to  inundate  the  fields  to  favor  its  produc- 
tion, although  I  understand  it  is  also  raised  in  that  way  in  some  locali- 
ties. It  is  generally  planted  just  as  wheat  and  barley  are  in  the  United 
States,  needing  no  irrigation  and  depending  entirely  on  the  rainfall. 
I  imagine  that  raising  rice  by  inundation  would  be  more  expensive, 
and  also  be  dangerous,  because  it  could  not  fail  to  affect  the  salubrity 
of  the  country. 

Chicle,  or  Chewing-Gum. — This  article,  like  many  others,  grows  wild 
in  Mexico,  where  the  demand  that  has  arisen  for  it  in  the  United 
States  has  begun  to  develop  its  production.  For  some  time  past  the 
shipments  from  Mexico  have  been  on  an  increasing  scale,  owing,  no 
doubt,  to  the  comparatively  high  prices  which  ruled  early  in  1896. 

Every  year  a  larger  extent  of  forests  is  worked  for  chicle,  result- 
ing in  a  steady  growth  of  the  production  since  the  gum  first  became 
an  important  commercial  article,  about  ten  years  ago.  Prior  to  that 


54  Geograpbtcal  motes  on 

time  7  or  8  cents  a  pound  was  considered  a  good  price,  and  in  1896 
it  was  sold  at  36  cents.  The  importation  into  the  United  States  con- 
stitutes almost  the  entire  production,  and  the  amounts  and  values  are 
thus  officially  reported  by  the  Statistical  Bureau  of  the  United  States 
for  the  fiscal  years  ending  June  30  : 

1894.  1895-96. 

Chicle 1,903,655  lib.  3,618,483  lib. 

Value $490,438  $1,167,101 

Average 2$|  cents  per  lib.      32  cents  per  lib. 

The  following  statement  has  been  compiled  from  official  data  col- 
lected by  the  Mexican  Government,  the  value  of  the  chewing-gum 
being  in  silver  : 

Year.  Pounds.  Value. 

1885-86 929,959  $    156,402 

1886-87 1,254,853  353,641 

1887-88 1,542,794  371,673 

1888-89 2,037,783  592,810 

1889-90 1,827,131  714,242 

1890-91 2,457,653  1,284,682 

1891-92 2,494,177  703,572 

1892-93 i,757,8i3  705,167 

1893-94 2,645,722  803,019 

1894-95 1,668,636  679,367 

1895-96 3,297,371  1,527,838 

Total 21,913,932  $7,892,413 

Yuca. — Yuca,  or  starch-plant,  called  manioc  in  South  America,  is 
a  bush  from  four  to  six  feet  high,  having  tubers,  like  horse-radish,  six 
to  ten  to  every  plant,  and  weighing  from  one  to  twelve  pounds  each. 
It  is  an  important  product  of  Chiapas  and  may  be  sown  at  any  time, 
but  it  is  better  to  do  so  from  the  stems  when  the  rains  begin,  say  in  the 
month  of  May,  by  opening  ditches  five  feet  apart,  and  planting  the 
cuttings,  eight  inches  long,  in  them  consecutively,  leaving  one  foot  be- 
tween. Vegetable  and  sandy  soil  is  best  adapted  for  it,  although  it 
can  be  planted  and  will  thrive  in  any  kind  of  land.  In  arid  and  hard 
soil  it  needs  plowing.  If  the  land  has  been  thoroughly  cleared  before 
planting  it  requires  but  little  weeding  during  cultivation.  A  year  after 
being  sown,  if  the  soil  is  rich,  it  will  begin  to  yield  tubers  which  must 
be  dug  up  at  the  time  the  tree  begins  to  flower.  In  replanting  after 
digging  the  tubers,  a  slip  is  left  standing  and  this  will  bear  in  twelve 
months.  Besides  extracting  the  starch  from  the  tubers,  the  leaves  are 
used  as  fodder  for  stock. 

Sir  Henry  Bering,  the  British  Minister  to  Mexico,  sent  recently  to 
the  Foreign  Office  some  practical  notes  on  the  cultivation  in  Mexico  of 
the  "  Yuca"  or  cassava  plant,  pineapple,  ginger,  "  chicle  "  or  chewing- 


Jflora.  55 

gum,  sarsaparilla,  jalap,  licorice,  canaigre,  and  ramie,  and  I  shall  quote 
here  from  his  notes  on  some  of  those  products. 

The  yuca  is  to  the  peon,  in  the  tropical  section  of  the  Republic, 
what  potatoes  are  to  the  poor  and  working  people  of  Ireland.  Yuca  is 
a  native  of  the  country,  and  its  rise  dates  back  before  the  conquest  of 
Hernan  Cortez,  and  it  has  always  formed  a  portion  of  the  food  of  the 
ancient  and  present  Mexicans,  especially  those  living  in  Veracruz, 
Oaxaca,  Chiapas,  Tabasco,  and  Yucatan.  It  has  been  estimated  that 
the  returns  of  yuca  cultivation  are  immense  ;  the  yield  of  an  acre 
contains  more  nutritive  matter  than  six  times  the  same  area  of  wheat. 
Ginger. — Ginger  is  found  growing  wild  in  various  parts  of  Mexico. 
The  returns  from  an  acre  of  land  vary  considerably,  but  when  culti- 
vated under  favorable  conditions,  the  crops  ought  to  be  4000  pounds 
and  upward.  A  ten-acre  patch  would  yield  annually  from  $5000  to 
$7000. 

Canaigre. — Though  for  years  canaigre  has  been  used  in  Mexico, 
both  for  medicinal  and  tanning  purposes,  it  has  but  recently  attracted 
the  attention  of  the  outside  commercial  world  as  a  valuable  source  of 
tannic  acid.  The  result  of  investigations  has  been  to  create  a  great 
demand  for  canaigre  in  the  tanning  business  of  European  countries, 
and  more  recently  in  the  leather-making  centres  of  the  United  States. 
The  only  supply  now  to  be  obtained  of  this  plant  is  from  the  wild 
growth  along  the  rivers  and  valleys  of  Western  Texas,  New  Mexico, 
and  Mexico,  and  a  fear  has  been  felt  for  some  time  that  with  the  con- 
stantly increasing  demand  the  present  sources  of  supply  must  become 
exhausted. 

Peppermint. — Water  mint  (mentha  vulgaris)  thrives  very  well  on 
the  central  plateau  of  Mexico  and  in  some  sections  of  the  warm  zone, 
especially  along  the  rivulets  and  small  lakes.  There  is  no  reason 
why  the  peppermint  (mentha  piper ita),  as  well  as  spearmint  and  tansy, 
should  not  grow  in  abundance  in  Mexico,  as  they  belong  to  the  same 
family  and  require  the  same  climatic  conditions.  As  the  oil  of  pep- 
permint is  very  extensively  employed  in  medicines  and  the  arts,  the 
cultivation  of  this  plant  will  be  profitable  to  Mexico. 

Cabinet  and  Dye  Woods. — In  the  low,  hot  countries  we  have  all  the 
cabinet  woods  growing  wild  and  a  great  many  dye  woods,  some  of 
which  are  indigenous  to  Mexico,  like  the  Campechy  wood,  not  being 
found  in  other  countries.  It  would  take  too  long  to  enumerate  the 
different  kinds  of  cabinet  woods  we  have,  and  I  will  only  say  that  it 
happens  with  them  as  with  our  fruits,  that  only  such  of  them  as  have 
been  introduced  here,  like  mahogany,  cedar,  rosewood,  ebony,  and  a 
few  others,  are  known  in  this  country  and  in  Europe,  while  hundreds 
of  other  kinds  as  hard  as  those  and  of  as  fine,  if  not  a  finer  grain,  are 
found  in  the  wild  woods  of  Mexico. 


56  <3eo0rapbical  motes  on  /IDejico, 

Grasses. — In  the  lower  regions  of  Mexico,  especially  at  the  sea-level,, 
we  have  various  grasses  which  can  be  grown  at  very  little  expense  and 
which  make  very  good  food  for  cattle,  fattening  them  very  much,  and 
in  comparatively  short  time.  While  I  lived  in  Soconusco,  I  used  to 
buy  lean  cattle,  three  years  old,  at  $10  per  head  ;  and  letting  them  pas- 
ture on  the  grass,  the  expense  being  little  more  than  that  of  a  few  men 
to  take  care  of  the  cattle,  without  providing  them  with  any  shelter, 
pens,  or  anything  of  that  kind,  only  giving  them  about  once  a  month 
some  salt,  at  the  end  of  four  or  five  months  they  became  very  fat  and 
could  be  sold  on  the  spot  at  $25  a  head.  The  fattening  grasses  can  be 
very  easily  cultivated,  because  they  are  of  such  rank  growth  that  they 
do  not  allow  any  other  vegetation  to  spring  up  on  the  same  spot,  and 
so  save  the  expense  of  cleaning  the  ground  of  weeds  ;  which,  in  the 
hot  regions  is  very  great,  as  vegetation  is  there  very  rank. 

Alfalfa. — The  alfalfa  grows  very  luxuriantly  in  almost  every  place 
in  Mexico,  and  it  is  so  abundant  there,  that  it  has  very  little  com- 
mercial value.  It  is  nowhere  dried  and  kept  for  fodder,  but  of  course 
such  use  can  be  made  of  it.  Land  good  for  alfalfa  has  a  very  low 
price,  and  we  are  greatly  surprised  when  we  hear  that  in  California  the 
alfalfa  land  is  worth  $100  an  acre. 

Cattle  Raising. — Mexico  has  special  advantages  for  the  raising  of 
cattle,  not  only  because  of  its  mild  climate,  which  renders  unnecessary 
the  many  expenses  required  in  the  northern  section  of  this  continent, 
but  also  on  account  of  the  grasses  that  grow  in  several  localities  and 
that  constitute  very  good  food  for  cattle,  as  I  have  just  stated. 

Mexico  will  be,  before  long,  a  very  large  producer  of  cattle  and  other 
animals,  and  they  will  form  a  large  share  of  her  exports.  Mexico  has 
sent  within  two  years  about  400,000  small  undeveloped  cattle  to  the 
United  States  at  about  $15,  Mexican  silver,  per  head,  and  has  also  sent 
nearly  her  entire  output  of  cotton-seed  meal  to  the  United  States  and 
Europe  at  about  $16,  silver,  per  ton.  The  meal  sent  to  the  United  States 
is  fed  to  cattle.  The  Mexican  cattle  sent  there  take  the  place  of  the 
better  stock  which  is  sent  to  Europe,  causing  virtually  a  five-thousand- 
kilometre  railway  haul  against  the  short  haul  in  Mexico  to  reach  the 
coast.  In  addition  we  have  to  pay  import  duties  in  the  United  States. 
This  is  a  sufficient  evidence  that  a  large  profit  could  be  made  by  fat- 
tening cattle  with  the  cotton-seed  meal  in  Mexico,  and  shipping  the 
fattened  cattle  direct  to  Europe,  even  using  the  best  cattle  of  the 
country.  But  rapid  improvement  should  be  made  in  the  class  of  cattle 
for  beef  purposes.  Cotton-seed  meal  is  the  feed  to  be  relied  on  chiefly. 
The  quantity  of  it  produced  already  is  sufficient  to  fatten  a  large  num- 
ber of  stock.  The  cattle  should  also  be  fed  with  a  small  amount  of 
corn  along  with  the  meal  during  the  last  month  of  feeding  to  harden 
and  whiten  the  meat,  as  feeding  only  with  cotton-seed  meal  makes  the 


flora*  57 

meat  dark,  and  militates  against  its  selling  value  to  some  extent,  and 
the  corn  can  be  easily  and  profitably  supplied.  The  total  cost  of  fat- 
tening a  steer  should  not  reach  $15  silver.  There  is  an  unlimited  de- 
mand in  Europe  for  choice  meats  at  about  i2c.,  gold,  per  pound,  and  no 
import  duties  have  to  be  paid.  Poor  classes  of  meat  are  a  drug  in  all 
markets  of  the  world.  With  these  great  advantages  placed  within  easy 
reach,  the  producers  in  Mexico  of  grain  and  stock  have  a  guarantee  of 
ready  sale  at  good  prices  for  all  they  can  produce. 

Inquiry  was  made  in  Liverpool  about  the  possibilities  of  the  Mexi- 
can live-animal  trade  with  England,  and  it  was  found  that  the  initial 
difficulty  is  the  small  size  of  the  Mexican  cattle,  as  cattle  weighing 
1200  pounds  are  considered  small  by  the  trade  there,  and  from  900  to 
1000  pounds  is  therefore  extremely  small.  The  smallest  Texan  cattle 
ever  imported  in  Liverpool  averaged  1226  pounds. 

The  best  Mexican  steers  can  be  made  to  weigh  1200  pounds  if  well 
fattened.  The  difference  in  cost  of  transportation  on  account  of 
lighter  weight  is  but  small  in  proportion  to  the  cheapness  of  Mexican 
cattle.  Cattle  breeders  in  Mexico,  on  the  whole,  have  not  advanced 
much  in  developing  good  breeds  of  cattle.  They  do  not  appreciate 
their  value,  nor  would  they  pay  one-half  their  actual  cost,  though  they 
can  be  had  from  the  United  States  at  half  of  what  they  would  cost 
from  Europe.  Herefords  are  the  best  breed.  I  am  sure  that  the  rail- 
roads will  do  all  they  can  to  encourage  that  industry  by  charging  as 
low  rates  as  possible,  as  they  would  thus  develop  an  industry  which  in 
the  course  of  time  would  become  very  profitable  to  them. 

A  great  need  of  Mexico  is  a  reliable  supply  of  good  and  healthy 
water  through  artificial  means,  well  distributed  over  the  stock  ranges 
to  prevent  the  great  loss  by  death  through  lack  of  water,  as  well 
as  the  heavy  shrinkage  of  meat  and  tallow,  by  so  much  unnecessary 
travelling  of  stock  to  water.  They  cannot  grow  fairly,  much  less  fat- 
ten, and  over  one-half  the  annual  increase  die  of  exhaustion,  while  the 
value  of  the  stock  lost  in  one  year  would  supply  permanent  water  at 
convenient  distances  and  prevent  three-fourths  of  the  loss  and  shrink- 
age now  sustained.  It  has  been  amply  proved  that  stock  water  can  be 
secured  under  the  most  unfavorable  conditions. 

It  would  be  to  the  advantage  of  the  breeder  to  import  some  Eng- 
lish short-horn  bulls,  with  the  object  of  breeding  larger  cattle,  so  as  to 
make  profitable  the  export  of  cattle  to  England,  as  animals  should 
weigh  from  1200  to  1300  pounds.  This  has  been  done  in  Texas  and 
in  the  Argentine  with  beneficial  results,  and  the  improvement  in  the 
cattle  from  the  latter  place  has  been  most  marked  during  the  last  five 
years.  With  the  proper  attention,  the  same  good  results  could  be 
achieved  in  Mexico. 

The  English  steamers  that  bring  a  large  quantity  of  merchandise 


58  <$eo$rapbical  Betes  on  flDejico. 

to  Mexican  ports  have  trouble  in  even  securing  ballast  to  get  out  of 
those  ports,  and  have  to  traverse  the  Gulf  and  United  States  coasts  to 
secure  loads  for  the  return  trip.  Their  owners  are  willing  and  ready 
to  supply  facilities  for  the  exportation  of  live  stock  and  frozen  meats  if 
assured  of  a  sufficient  traffic  to  justify  them  in  the  expense,  for  they  pre- 
fer reloading  direct  for  Europe  to  going  elsewhere  for  freight.  The 
time  required  to  return  direct  from  Mexican  ports  is  but  little  more 
than  from  New  York  and  Baltimore,  and  is  sufficiently  short  to  warrant 
good  service  in  transportation  of  live  stock,  and  the  cost  would  prac- 
tically be  the  same  as  from  United  States  ports.  The  United  States  is 
beginning  to  export  beef  and  stock  from  Galveston  to  Europe,  which 
is  practically  the  same  distance  as  from  the  Gulf  ports  of  Mexico. 

Mexico  could  export  annually  and  easily  after  the  next  ten  years 
400,000  of  fattened  cattle,  which  would  increase  considerably  the 
amount  of  our  exports,  and  this  trade  would  greatly  assist  the  develop- 
ment of  many  other  industries. 

The  desired  result  in  question  could  be  hastened  by  mixing  good 
foreign  labor  with  the  native  labor.  The  latter  would  be  better  fed, 
clothed,  and  educated,  as  well  as  encouraged,  taught,  and  compelled 
to  do  better  work,  and  thus  the  country's  physical  and  mental  welfare 
would  be  greatly  promoted. 

Sheep. — The  same  conditions  apply  to  the  sheep  and  wool  industry. 
It  is  a  great  mistake  for  the  Mexican  sheep-owners  to  raise  a  class  of 
sheep  that  yield  each  only  from  one  to  two  and  one-half  pounds  of 
very  coarse  and  inferior  wool,  annually,  while  they  themselves  wear 
goods  manufactured  from  foreign  wools,  and  the  domestic-cloth  manu- 
facturers are  also  under  the  necessity  of  importing  largely  of  fine  wools. 
Mexico  possesses  natural  resources  for  producing  all  the  wools  of  every 
grade  that  she  needs,  with  a  large  quantity  over  for  export,  not  to  speak 
of  choice  grain -fed  mutton  for  domestic  and  foreign  consumption. 

The  custom  of  killing  so  much  poor  stock  is  a  terrible  waste  of  re- 
sources, as  one  well-fattened  animal  will  render  twice  as  much  as  a  thin 
or  poor  one. 

Products  of  Cold  and  Temperate  Regions. — I  will  not  speak  of  the 
products  of  the  cold  and  temperate  regions  of  Mexico,  such  as  Indian 
corn,  wheat,  oats,  barley,  and  others,  because  their  cultivation  is  well 
understood  in  the  United  States,  and  I  could  say  here  nothing  new  to 
the  American  reader,  but  will  only  state  that  they  all  grow  very  well  in 
the  proper  regions  of  Mexico. 

FRUITS. 

We  produce  in  Mexico  a  great  many  tropical  fruits  that  are  not 
sent  to  the  United  States  because  there  is  no  market  for  them  for 
the  reason  that  they  are  not  known  here.  Some  of  them  are  delicious, 


ffrufts.  59 

and  with  the  facilities  of  communication,  I  have  no  doubt  that  they 
will  become  known  and  a  taste  will  be  developed  for  them  in  this 
country.  I  will  speak  here  only  of  such  of  our  tropical  fruits  as  come 
to  the  United  States. 

The  advantage  of  tropical  fruits  growing  in  their  proper  zone  and 
climate  is  immense,  as  the  expense  of  planting  and  cultivating  them 
outside  of  their  proper  limits  is  very  great  and  there  is  always  danger 
of  their  destruction. 

Oranges. — Orange  trees,  like  any  other  fruit  trees,  depend  in  Mexico 
on  the  rain,  and,  except  in  a  private  garden  or  private  grounds,  are  not 
irrigated.  While  the  orange  tree  is  a  hardy  plant,  it  thrives  best  and 
yields  the  most  luscious  fruit  in  the  tropics.  Elevation  exceeding  2500 
feet  is  not,  as  a  rule,  desirable  for  orange  culture. 

The  advantages  of  irrigation  in  orange  culture  are  great  in  the  sub- 
tropical regions  of  Mexico.  The  fruit  of  the  irrigated  orange  tree  is 
of  a  very  superior  quality,  while  the  tree  itself  has  a  longer  lease  of  life 
and  is  less  subject  to  attacks  from  insects  and  diseases  of  a  fungoid 
nature.  One  of  the  conditions  primarily  requisite  to  the  growing  of  a 
marketable  orange  is  that  the  trees  be  watered  at  judiciously  regulated 
intervals  during  and  for  a  short  time  after  the  blossoming  season.  At- 
tacks from  insect  and  fungoidal  pests,  which  are  most  disastrous,  and 
to  which  the  trees  are  peculiarly  subject  during  the  blossoming  period, 
are  rendered  even  more  dangerous  by  the  prevalence  of  a  considerable 
amount  of  humidity  in  the  atmosphere  which  is  always  conducive  to 
the  development  of  parasitic  germs  or  fungoidal  spores.  An  abund- 
ance of  moisture  in  the  ground  but  a  comparatively  small  amount  in 
the  air  is  the  condition  most  to  be  desired  during  and  just  after  the 
blossoming  season.  This  is  to  be  had  by  irrigation,  but,  generally 
speaking,  not  without  it.  Under  irrigation,  the  soil  is  also  much  less 
subject  to  deterioration,  owing  to  the  superior  fertilizing  properties  of 
water  taken  from  wells  and  streams.  Rain  water,  aside  from  contain- 
ing a  small  percentage  of  ammonia,  which  it  receives  from  the  air,  only 
.acts  as  a  medium  to  transmit  the  nutriment  from  the  soil  to  the  tree, 
while  water  taken  from  wells  or  streams  holds  in  solution  the  renewing 
materials  which  are  directly  communicated  to  the  plant  proper. 

In  the  more  elevated  orange  districts  of  Mexico,  the  trees  should  be 
watered  about  once  every  twenty  days  during  the  dry  season. 

In  some  places  our  oranges  are  as  sweet  as  if  they  had  been  preserved 
in  sugar,  and  this,  notwithstanding  the  fact  that  no  attention  is  paid 
to  their  cultivation,  that  they  grow  almost  wild,  and  without  irrigation. 

I  think  that  the  distillation  of  orange  blossoms  would  prove  very 
profitable.  The  production  of  flowers  per  tree  is  given  at  from  22  to 
55  pounds  in  the  case  of  sweet  oranges,  and  from  60  to  100  pounds 
per  tree  from  the  bitter  variety. 


60  Geograpbical  motes  on 

In  flavor  and  productiveness  the  Mexican  orange  is  unsurpassed. 
In  the  majority  of  the  districts  but  little  care  or  attention  is  given  to 
the  cultivation  of  the  trees.  Scientific  orange  culture  in  Mexico  is 
practically  unknown.  The  introduction  from  other  countries  of  dif- 
ferent varieties  of  the  plant  for  experimental  purposes  is  just  being 
commenced. 

The  price  of  oranges  in  Mexico  at  the  present  time,  in  districts 
reasonably  near  lines  of  transportation,  is  about  $n  per  thousand, 
Mexican  money,  on  the  tree.  It  is  the  practice  of  the  producer  to  sell 
the  fruit  on  the  trees,  the  buyer  picking,  packing,  and  shipping  it  at  his 
own  expense. 

About  one  hundred  trees  are  usually  set  out  to  the  acre,  the  average 
yield  being  from  800  to  1000  oranges  to  the  tree.  I  know  of  trees  in 
Mexico  which  have  a  record  of  having  produced  10,000  oranges.  This,, 
however,  is  very  exceptional. 

A  properly  cultivated  and  prudently  managed  grove  at  the  end  of 
five  years'  growth  should  prove  as  profitably  as  a  coffee  plantation  of 
the  same  size,  at  the  end  of  five  years. 

The  production  of  the  orange  trees  begins  in  the  third  or  fourth  year 
and  increases  up  to  the  twelfth,  and,  in  some  cases,  to  the  fifteenth  or 
sixteenth  year.  It  is  considered  best  to  cut  the  fruit  up  to  the  fifth 
year,  not  permitting  it  to  mature. 

A  book  prepared  by  Frederico  Atristain,  entitled  Cultivo  y  explota- 
>cion  de  Naranja,  and  published  by  the  Department  of  Fomento  of  the 
Mexican  Government,  contains  a  great  deal  of  reliable  information  on 
the  subject  of  orange  culture  in  Mexico. 

After  an  orange  tree  has  been  yielding  sweet  oranges  for  many  years, 
it  very  likely  exhausts  the  substances  of  the  earth  which  give  the  sweet 
taste  to  the  fruit,  and  it  begins  to  lose  its  sweetness,  until  finally,  if  the 
land  is  not  manured,  as  is  almost  always  the  case  in  Mexico,  the  oranges 
become  bitter. 

A  recent  cyclone,  which  lowered  considerably  the  temperature  in 
Florida,  destroyed  in  one  day,  I  understand,  about  12,000,000  orange 
trees,  thus  causing  ruin  or  serious  loss  to  thousands  of  men  engaged 
in  that  large  industry,  while  the  orange  region  in  Mexico  is  entirely 
free  from  frosts  and  consequently  from  such  dangers. 

Lemons. — In  the  hot  and  temperate  regions  of  Mexico  lemons  grow 
very  well.  There  are  some  districts  of  the  country,  like  Soconusco, 
where  the  natives  plant  the  lemon  trees  very  close  together,  for  the 
purpose  of  making  a  hedge  or  fence,  and,  notwithstanding  that  the  trees 
have  not  the  necessary  conditions  of  sunlight  and  air  for  their  proper 
development,  they  grow  very  well.  I  do  not  know  of  any  place  in 
Mexico  where  lemons  have  been  cultivated  for  commercial  purposes  ;, 
but  I  am  sure  they  could  be  made  a  very  lucrative  industry. 


Ifrufts.  61 

Limes  and  Shaddocks. — Lime  trees  prosper  very  well  in  Mexico, 
bearing  large  amounts  of  delicious  fruit.  I  have  not  seen  in  the  United 
States  any  of  our  limes,  at  least  such  as  are  imported  here  are  not  like 
ours,  and  I  have  no  doubt  that  if  known  our  limes  would  find  a  good 
market  in  this  country.  The  lime  should  not  be  planted  at  an  altitude 
exceeding  1000  feet.  We  grow  also  a  very  large  kind  of  shaddock, 
which  we  call  "  toronja,"  and  which  is  not  imported  in  this  country, 
but  which  if  known  here  would  find  a  good  demand.  It  grows  very 
luxuriantly  and  attains  at  times  a  very  large  size,  even  eight  inches  in 
diameter,  having  a  very  thick  peel. 

Bananas. — The  banana  thrives  anywhere  from  the  sea-level  to  an 
elevation  of  5000  feet,  and  is  one  of  the  many  Mexican  fruits  which 
yield  to  the  planter  an  immense  profit.  The  whole  Mexican  coast 
produces  the  banana  spontaneously  and  in  very  great  abundance.  On 
the  lands  near  the  sea,  at  an  elevation  of  600  to  700  feet,  large  planta- 
tions of  bananas  can  be  started  at  a  cost  of  five  cents  per  plant,  in- 
cluding all  expenses.  At  the  end  of  the  first  year,  the  plants  begin  to 
bear,  and  1000  plants,  which  have  cost  $50,  will  produce  $  1000  as  a 
minimum.  The  following  year  the  yield  is  double  that  amount,  and 
almost  without  expense.  At  the  end  of  one  year,  the  plant  produces 
one  bunch  which  is  worth  in  the  United  States  from  75  cents  to  $i 
gold,  the  cost  to  the  farmer  being  not  more  than  25  cents  per  bunch 
in  Mexican  currency.  After  the  first  year,  the  sprouts  from  the  old 
plant  grow  up  and  give  double  the  first  year's  yield. 

There  is  perhaps  no  tropical  plant  easier  of  cultivation  than  the 
banana.  The  suckers  having  been  planted  out  at  the  commencement 
of  the  rainy  season,  they  will  grow  vigorously,  and  produce  fruit  in 
about  a  year.  The  land  must  be  kept  free  from  weeds,  and  an  oc- 
casional turning  up  of  the  soil  will  prove  beneficial.  Before  the  plant 
throws  out  its  flowering  stem,  suckers  will  make  their  appearance  above 
the  ground,  and  these  will  require  careful  attention.  While  the  plant 
is  young,  all  the  suckers  except  one  should  be  cut  away,  the  best  plan 
being  to  sever  them  with  a  sharp  spade.  Thus  all  the  vigor  of  the 
plant  is  thrown  into  the  fruiting  of  the  first  stem,  and  the  growth  of 
the  one  to  supplant  it,  and,  in  this  way,  fine  large  bunches  can  be 
reckoned  on.  The  second  stem  usually  produces  a  finer  bunch  of 
fruit  than  the  first,  but,  as  the  land  becomes  exhausted,  the  bunches  of 
course  decrease  in  size,  and  this  shows  the  necessity  for  manure  in 
some  form  or  other. 

Bananas  are  used  extensively  as  shade  for  young  coffee  and  cocoa 
trees,  and  in  places  where  an  export  banana  trade  has  been  established, 
the  formation  of  a  cocoa  plantation  is  a  very  inexpensive  matter,  as  the 
return  in  fruit  from  the  bananas  will  pay  for  the  cultivation  of  the 
cocoa  until  the  trees  are  able  to  give  a  small  crop. 


62  0eo0rapbical  Motes  on 

The  important  feature,  and  the  one  upon  which  the  success  and 
profit  of  the  industry  depend  largely,  is  that  of  cheap  and  certain  trans- 
portation facilities.  That  requisite  is  easily  obtainable  ;  for  instance, 
there  are  extensive  and  cheap  lands  for  sale  along  the  Tampico  branch 
of  the  Mexican  Central  Railroad,  from  which  the  fruit  can  be  shipped 
either  all  by  rail,  or  by  rail  to  Tampico,  and  thence  by  boat. 

We  have  many  kinds  of  bananas  in  Mexico,  of  different  sizes, 
colors,  and  flavors,  ranging  in  length  from  two  to  eighteen  inches,  and 
from  one-half  of  an  inch  to  three  inches  in  diameter.  The  largest, 
which  in  some  places  are  thought  unfit  for  food,  are  in  others,  like  So- 
conusco,  considered  the  best ;  very  likely  on  account  of  their  different 
quality.  When  roasted  the  latter  are  very  juicy,  and  taste  exactly  as  if 
they  had  been  preserved  in  sugar.  Some  people  on  the  coast  live  al- 
most entirely  on  bananas,  this  fruit  forming  their  principal  food.  The 
banana  is  likewise  a  tropical  plant,  and  thrives  best  on  the  lowlands. 

Pineapple. — The  Toltecs  and  Aztecs  knew  how  to  cultivate  the  pine- 
apple, and  when  the  Spaniards  conquered  Mexico,  they  found  the 
fruit  in  the  markets  of  the  towns  on  their  way  from  Veracruz  to  the 
great  Tenochtitlan.  "From  time  immemorial,"  Sir  Henry  Dering 
says,  "  the  pineapple  has  been  cultivated  in  Amatlan,  a  town  five  miles 
south  of  Cordoba,  from  where  the  ancient  Mexicans  used  to  get  their 
main  supply."  Now  it  is  grown  in  tropical  Hidalgo,  Puebla,  Veracruz, 
Tabasco,  Chiapas,  Oaxaca,  Morelos,  Guerrero,  Michoacan,  Colima, 
Jalisco,  and  Tepic.  "  Besides  the  fruit  being  very  delicious  and  whole- 
some," Sir  Henry  Dering  says,  "  a  fine  wine  and  vinegar  are  made  of 
the  juice.  The  leaf  furnishes  a  fibre  of  extraordinary  strength  and 
fineness,  making  it  even  more  valuable  than  the  fruit.  The  fibre  is 
made  into  ropes,  cables,  binding  twine,  thread,  mats,  bagging,  ham- 
mocks, and  paper.  A  pineapple  rope  three  and  a  half  inches  thick 
can  support  nearly  three  tons.  A  textile  fabric  as  fine  and  beautiful 
as  silk  is  made  of  this  fibre  too.  It  is  believed  that  the  fine  cloth  of 
various  colors  used  by  the  upper  classes  among  the  Aztecs  was  made 
of  the  pineapple  fibre.  The  modern  Mexicans  do  not  manufacture  it 
much  now,  except  in  the  Isthmus,  where  the  Zapotec  Indians  still 
make  a  cloth  from  it  and  from  wild  silk.  One  cause  for  its  disuse  is 
the  slow  and  wasteful  manner  in  which  it  is  separated."  Pineapples 
will  grow  at  elevations  of  from  2000  to  3000  feet  above  the  level  of  the 
sea,  but  the  best  and  most  delicate  fruit  is  produced  on  the  lowlands. 

Cocoa-Nut — We  have  in  our  lowlands  near  the  sea  many  kinds  of 
palms  called  corozo,  bearing  different  kinds  of  fruit,  growing  in  large 
bunches  and  the  fruit  very  abundant,  being  in  the  shape  of  a  small  egg, 
very  rich  in  oils,  and  making  also  a  very  good  food,  although  it  is 
hardly  used  now  for  any  purpose.  The  palm  tree  bearing  the  cocoa-nut 
grows,  of  course,  very  luxuriantly,  and  does  not  require  any  care  after 


fflowers,  63 

it  is  once  planted.  The  cocoa-nut  prefers  the  sea-coast  and  high  tem- 
perature. The  saline  breezes  from  the  sea  are  very  beneficial  to  it. 
I  have  not  seen  in  Mexico  the  species  of  palm  bearing  the  date, 
perhaps  because  it  has  not  been  planted  there  ;  but  I  am  sure  that  we 
could  raise  it,  as  we  have  several  sections  with  a  climate  similar  to 
that  of  Egypt  and  Asia  Minor,  where  the  date  palm  grows  so  well. 

Mangos. — The  mango  is  a  very  fine  fruit,  but  requires  a  cultivated 
taste,  and  is  generally  disliked  the  first  time  it  is  eaten.  It  has  a  very 
large  bone,  although  that  is  not  the  case  in  fine  qualities,  called  Manilla 
mango,  which  has  a  very  thin  one  and  a  great  deal  of  pulp.  The 
mango  occasionally  comes  to  the  United  States,  but  being  a  very  frail 
fruit,  has  to  be  taken  from  the  tree  when  very  green.  It  does  not 
ripen  well,  and,  if  taken  when  beginning  to  ripen,  it  reaches  its  desti- 
nation in  a  decayed  condition. 

Alligator  Pear. — The  alligator  pear  is  one  of  the  most  delicious 
fruits  that  we  raise  in  Mexico,  and  is  properly  called  vegetable  butter, 
being  a  good  substitute  for  butter.  It  is  not  eaten  by  itself  ;  the  most 
usual  way  to  eat  it  is  in  salad.  We  have  several  kinds  and  sizes  of  this 
fruit.  The  seed  of  the  alligator  pear  is  oval-shaped  and  quite  large, 
about  4  inches  in  length  by  ij  in  diameter,  and  of  some  oily  substance, 
which,  I  have  no  doubt,  has  some  good  medicinal  properties. 

Mamey. — The  same  is  the  case  with  the  seed  of  the  mamey,  a  fruit 
unknown  in  the  United  States,  having  a  red  pulp,  and  a  very  large 
seed  covered  with  a  thin  shell.  The  Indian  women  extract  an  oil 
from  that  seed  and  use  it  for  their  hair,  and  I  think  it  must  have  many 
more  useful  medicinal  properties. 

A  great  many  other  of  our  fruits  have  seeds  containing  substances 
which  I  have  no  doubt  will  be  found,  when  analyzed,  to  be  very  valua- 
ble to  therapeutics. 

Zapote. — The  zapote  is  one  of  our  tropical  fruits  which  does  not 
come  to  this  country.  I  have  just  heard  that  the  seeds  of  the  zapote 
have  recently  been  found  by  a  Mexican  doctor  to  be  a  very  good  nar- 
cotic, which  does  not  produce  the  ill  effects  of  the  drugs  now  in  use. 

Papaya. — This  fruit,  which  grows  in  our  hot  lands  resembles  the 
melon  in  shape,  pulp,  and  seeds,  but  its  color  is  of  a  yellowish-red.  It 
was  considered  a  very  common  fruit,  but  recently  it  was  found  to  be  a 
powerful  digestive,  and  it  is  already  used  in  Europe  as  a  medicine  under 
the  name  of  Papaine. 

Flowers. 

Mexico  is  a  favored  country  for  flowers.  They  grow  wild  in 
a  great  many  places,  and  they  can  be  raised  at  very  little  cost,  as  there 
is  no  need  of  hot-houses  or  any  other  expensive  appliance  to  cultivate 
them.  The  Indians  in  the  small  towns  around  the  City  of  Mexico 


64  Geoatapbical  Iftotes  on  /iDejico. 

make  a  business  of  raising  flowers,  and  they  sell  handsome  bouquets, 
as  artistically  made  as  any  in  this  country,  for  a  mere  trifle.  A 
bouquet  which,  for  instance,  in  New  York  would  cost  $5  in  winter, 
could  be  had  in  the  City  of  Mexico  all  the  year  round  for  25  cents  ; 
and  I  look  forward  to  the  time  when  flowers  will  be  exported  in  large 
quantities  from  Mexico  to  the  United  States  if  the  protective  policy  of 
the  country  does  not  interfere. 

IRRIGATION. 

At  the  time  of  the  Spanish  invasion  of  Mexico,  the  Indians  in  those 
parts  of  the  country  where  the  population  was  greatest  were  dependent 
upon  irrigation  for  a  large  part  of  their  cereals,  and  for  cotton,  which 
played  so  important  a  part  in  their  economy.  As  the  same  method  had 
been  employed  from  time  immemorial  in  Spain,  it  followed  that  on  the 
partition  of  the  soil  among  the  Spanish  conquerors,  irrigation  became 
an  important  factor  in  their  agriculture  ;  but  with  expansion  of  popu- 
lation large  tracts  of  land  have  come  to  depend  entirely  upon  the  rain. 

In  recent  years  Mexican  agriculture  has  depended  almost  altogether 
on  the  rainfall,  except  in  a  few  places  well  supplied  with  water,  and 
where  irrigation  is  both  cheap  and  easy  ;  but  the  inhabited  portions 
of  the  country  have  been  depleted  of  their  timber  by  the  natives  for  the 
purpose  of  using  the  wood  for  fuel  or  lumber.  In  more  recent  years, 
the  building  of  railroads  has  increased  considerably  the  demand  for 
wood  both  for  sleepers  and  for  fuel  for  locomotives,  and  the  consequence 
is  that  a  great  change  is  taking  place  in  the  climatic  conditions  of  the 
country  and  that  fuel  is  exceedingly  high.  In  no  other  country  is  there 
so  much  timber — a  good  deal  of  it  not  yet  full  grown — consumed  an- 
nually as  in  Mexico.  The  consumption  of  timber  for  railroad  purposes 
alone,  not  to  mention  that  used  in  mines,  smelters,  and  as  fuel  in  cities 
and  towns,  is  incalculable. 

Competent  authority  in  Mexico,  among  whom  is  the  Inspector  of 
Manufactories,  created  for  the  purpose  of  insuring  the  collection  of  the 
internal-revenue  tax,  considers  that  only  in  the  Federal  District  of 
Mexico  the  consumption  of  wood  exceeds  4000  English  cords  daily, 
used  as  fuel  in  the  factories,  railroads,  and  other  plants  of  that  city. 

The  consumption  of  charcoal  by  private  families  in  the  old-style 
open  cooking  grates  is  at  least  500,000  pounds  in  the  Federal  District 
of  Mexico,  which  is  equivalent  to  2,500,000  pounds  of  wood  taken  from 
the  scanty  forests  of  the  central  plateau,  and  that  consumption  would 
be  very  much  reduced  if,  instead  of  those  old-fashioned  grates,  iron 
cooking  stoves  should  be  used  ;  and  to  encourage  their  use,  when  I  was 
last  in  the  Treasury  Department  of  Mexico,  I  was  instrumental  in  re- 
ducing considerably  the  duties  on  the  same. 

Another  cause  of  the  destruction  of  the  forest  in  Mexico  consists 


Irrigation.  65 

in  the  primitive  way  in  which  the  Indians  raise  their  crops.  They  own 
in  common  a  large  tract  of  land,  and  they  begin  to  till  near  their  towns, 
commencing  by  destroying  the  forests  and  planting  every  year  in  a  dif- 
ferent locality,  because,  more  especially  in  the  lowlands,  the  vegetation 
springs  up  so  rank  after  the  first  year's  crop  that  it  is  very  difficult  to 
keep  the  ground  clear  of  weeds.  In  this  way  they  clear  new  land  every 
year,  going  farther  and  farther  from  their  town,  until  sometimes  their 
crops  are  raised  at  a  distance  of  as  much  as  thirty  or  forty  miles  from 
their  homes.  The  natural  result  is  the  destruction  of  the  forests  around 
the  towns  and  at  some  considerable  distance  from  the  same,  and  con- 
sequently the  diminution  of  the  rainfall.  I  was  greatly  struck,  on  my 
last  visit  to  Mexico,  in  1896,  by  the  scantiness  of  water  at  an  Indian 
town  called  San  Bernardino,  in  the  sierra  district,  about  five  miles 
north  of  Teotitlan,  the  county  seat  of  the  district,  which  I  had  visited 
in  November,  1855,  and  found  then  exceedingly  abundant  in  rainfall 
and  consequently  in  water,  as  well  as  all  the  mountains  north  of  that 
place,  which  extend  for  about  eighty  miles  to  the  lowlands  on  the  Gulf 
of  Mexico.  On  my  recent  visit,  however,  I  found  a  great  scarcity 
of  water  :  a  small  stream  of  probably  not  more  than  one-half  an  inch 
in  diameter,  carried  in  very  primitive  wooden  troughs,  was  all  the  water 
the  town  had,  and  that  only  during  the  rainy  season,  the  people  being 
obliged  to  go  a  considerable  distance  for  water  in  the  dry  season  ;  this 
being  only  one  illustration  of  what  the  destruction  of  the  woods  is 
doing  in  Mexico. 

The  city  of  Oaxaca,  at  the  foot  of  the  Sierra,  used  to  be,  in  my 
young  days,  very  well  supplied  with  water,  using  for  that  purpose  several 
streams  coming  from  the  mountains  ;  but  during  the  last  dry  season 
the  scarcity  of  water  has  been  such  as  to  cause  a  real  water  famine. 

The  diminution  of  the  rains,  together  with  other  atmospheric  phe- 
nomena, which  takes  place  from  time  to  time,  produces  in  some  years 
drought  that  prevents  the  crops  from  being  raised  ;  as  the  country  pro- 
duces at  present  only  the  corn  necessary  for  its  consumption,  which 
cannot  be  kept  from  year  to  year  on  account,  of  its  being  eaten  by  in- 
sects. This  diminution  was  very  disastrous  before  the  railroad  era,  caus- 
ing serious  famines.  Since  the  railways  were  built,  we  import  in  such 
years  corn  from  the  United  States,  spending  several  millions  of  dollars 
in  providing  ourselves  with  that  staple.  All  that  will  be  changed,  and 
we  shall  be  able  to  produce  cereals  enough  not  only  for  home  consump- 
tion, but  even  for  export,  when  we  begin  to  use  irrigation.  The  con- 
figuration of  the  country  allows  dams  that  will  retain  sufficient  water 
both  for  irrigation  and  manufacturing  purposes,  to  be  built  at  compara- 
tively little  expense. 

Large  tracts  of  land  in  Western  Asia,  Northern  Africa,  and  South- 
ern Europe — countries  which,  according  to  historians,  were  once  densely 

VOL.  1—5 


66  Geoatapbtcai  IRotes  on 

populated  and  gardens  of  the  world — are  now  uninhabited  and  barren 
wildernesses  ;  and  this  has  been  brought  about  by  the  wholesale  de- 
struction of  the  forests  and  the  absence  of  any  law  to  protect  them 
and  provide  for  their  replanting.  In  the  United  States  it  has  been  seen 
that  not  only  does  the  decrease  of  the  forest  area  lessen  the  rainfall, 
but  also  the  fall  of  snow  in  the  winter  months,  the  consequence  being; 
a  marked  decrease  in  the  supply  of  water  for  irrigation  purposes  from 
the  streams  and  rivers  dependent  for  their  supply  on  the  snowy  moun- 
tain tops. 

Along  the  Mississippi  River  it  is  a  common  observation  of  the  river 
pilots  and  old  steamship  hands  that  the  summers  are  becoming  more 
and  more  dry  and  the  streams  smaller,  and  that  the  big  river  itself  has 
shown  a  marked  decrease  of  "  navigability  "  every  year  during  the  past 
twenty  years.  All  this  is  caused  by  the  indiscriminate  chopping  down 
of  the  forests  at  the  head  of  the  principal  tributaries  of  the  big  river. 
Statistics  from  Russia,  Germany,  Spain,  Italy,  Palestine,  Australia,  and 
India  all  prove  beyond  a  doubt  that  the  protection  of  the  forests  is  a 
matter  of  vital  importance. 

Mexico  is  not  only  suffering  from  an  annual  decrease  in  rainfall,, 
owing  to  the  continual  decrease  in  the  timber-bearing  area,  the  rainfall 
being  more  and  more  unequal  every  year  during  the  past  twenty  years 
but  the  winters  are  becoming  more  and  more  severe,  and  the  frosts  are 
reaching  farther  and  farther  south  each  year.  This  is  undoubtedly  due 
to  the  wholesale  destruction  of  timber  now  going  on  throughout  that 
Republic. 

The  Government  can  cope  with  this  matter  only  by  legislation,  and 
having  before  it  the  example  of  the  rest  of  the  world,  the  Mexican  Gov- 
ernment should  act  without  delay  and  in  a  manner  that  would  benefit,  not 
only  the  present,  but  also  future  generations  ;  and  I  understand  it  has 
been  studying  the  advisability  of  prohibiting  the  use  of  wood  for  the 
locomotives  and  sleepers.  Experience  has  shown  that  in  tropical  coun- 
tries iron  sleepers  last  much  longer,  and  are,  on  the  whole,  cheaper 
than  wooden  ones,  and  our  supply  of  coal  will  soon  be  ample  enough 
to  furnish  all  the  fuel  necessary  for  the  railway  and  mining  industries. 

One  of  the  most  profitable  investments  for  capital  in  the  near  future 
will  undoubtedly  be  the  construction  of  reservoirs  in  the  mountains, 
dams  in  the  rivers,  artesian-well  boring,  the  erection  of  pumping  ma- 
chinery on  a  large  scale,  together  with  the  introduction  of  modern 
devices  and  appliances  that  will  facilitate  the  successful  cultivation  of 
the  soil  and  assure  crops  of  all  descriptions  in  all  parts  of  the  country 
where  it  has  been  proved  that  irrigation  must  be  resorted  to.  Not  only 
are  these  requirements  essential  for  the  conservation  of  water  for  irriga- 
tion purposes,  but  many  large  cities  throughout  the  Republic  are  with- 
out any  certain  water  supply  ;  and  many  that  have  a  sufficient  supply 


Urriaatiom  67 

show  by  their  death-rates  that  that  supply  is  bad,  and  during  the 
greater  part  of  the  year  is  the  cause  of  wide-spread  disease. 

Again,  much  is  to  be  gained  by  the  use  of  these  waters  for  the  gen- 
erating of  power  for  the  use  of  factories,  mines,  electric  lighting,  rail- 
ways, and  street  cars,  even  should  one  hundred  miles  or  more  intervene 
between  the  generating  plant  and  the  machinery  it  is  proposed  to  apply 
to  it. 

It  seems  marvellous  that  the  Mexico  of  to-day — presenting,  as  it 
does,  more  natural  resources,  a  greater  variety  of  climate,  cheaper 
labor,  and  better  facilities  for  the  construction  of  dams,  reservoirs, 
canals,  etc.,  than  almost  any  other  country — should  be  so  far  behind 
the  times  in  a  matter  that  has  become  an  absolute  necessity  before  the 
greater  portion  of  its  area  can  be  thoroughly  populated.  The  great 
increase  in  value  of  a  piece  of  land  after  it  is  irrigated  ought  to  be  in- 
ducement enough  for  capital  to  be  invested  in  such  works.  Compe- 
tent engineers  contend  that  Mexico,  owing  to  its  topographical  and 
geological  features,  will  be  found  to  present  most  favorable  conditions 
for  the  construction  of  reservoirs,  dams,  gravitation  canals,  the  erection 
of  pumping  plants  driven  by  wind,  steam,  gasoline,  electricity,  or  even 
water  power,  and  also  for  the  cutting  off  and  bringing  to  the  surface 
of  the  underflowing  waters,  which  are  known  to  exist  in  greater  abun- 
dance there  than  elsewhere  on  the  face  of  the  globe,  as  nature  has 
been  very  prodigal  to  it  in  these  respects. 

Irrigation  in  arid  countries  is  the  corner-stone  of  civilization,  and, 
to  make  a  country  self-sustaining,  agriculture  should  be  the  first  aim 
of  its  inhabitants.  Agriculture  must  come  first ;  manufacturing  and 
mining  cannot  thrive  until  the  food  supply  is  forthcoming. 

With  the  extension  of  railway  lines  and  the  notable  impulse  given 
to  agricultural  enterprise  within  the  last  twenty  years,  Mexican  land- 
owners have  improved  more  and  more  upon  the  earlier  methods,  and 
have,  to  an  increasing  extent,  applied  the  principles  of  engineering 
science  to  the  methodical  cultivation  of  the  large  tracts  into  which 
their  holdings  are  usually  divided. 

The  Nazas  Irrigation. — Some  notice  of  an  irrigation  enterprise  in 
Mexico  will  show  how  much  we  are  now  doing  in  this  line. 

The  great  plan  of  northern  Mexico  embraces  nearly  the  whole  of 
the  States  of  Chihuahua  and  Coahuila,  being  bounded  east  and  west 
by  the  sierras  of  the  Pacific  and  Gulf  coasts  respectively.  It  consists 
of  two  watersheds, — that  of  the  Rio  Grande  to  the  north,  and  the 
the  so-called  desert  of  the  Bolson  of  Mapimi  in  the  south.  It  is 
about  four  hundred  miles  wide  by  six  hundred  long,  and  maintains 
a  general  level  of  about  four  thousand  feet  above  the  sea,  although 
much  broken  by  local  mountain  ranges.  The  Bolson  of  Mapimi 
has  much  the  same  formation  as  the  basin  of  the  Great  Salt  Lake. 


68  (Beograpbfcal  IRotes  on 

It  receives  the  drainage  of  all  the  eastern  slopes  of  the  Durango 
sierras  and  the  western  slopes  of  the  Coahuila  ranges,  but  possesses  no 
outlet.  As  a  consequence,  throughout  its  whole  area,  the  rivers  run 
into  broad,  shallow  lakes,  whence  the  waters  are  gradually  lost  by 
evaporation  during  the  dry  season.  Of  these  rivers,  the  largest  is  the 
Nazas,  which  has  a  course  of  nearly  three  hundred  miles  from  its 
source  to  where  it  is  dispersed  over  the  shallows,  called  on  modern 
maps  Lake  Mayran.  Sixty  or  seventy  years  ago  the  Nazas  discharged 
its  waters  into  a  series  of  extensive  lagoons,  occupying  what  is  now 
the  fertile  Laguna  district  of  Durango  and  Coahuila. 

At  that  time  a  phenomenal  and  long-continued  rainfall  so  over- 
charged the,  then,  bed  of  the  Nazas  as  to  cause  it  to  open  a  new 
course,  and  leave  the  Cayman  lagoons  thirty  miles  on  one  side.  In 
the  course  of  years  these  lagoons  were  converted  into  a  mesquite  wil- 
derness, almost  dead  level,  and  composed  of  a  deposit  of  the  finest 
detritus,  of  unknown  depth.  The  central  depression  of  this  lake-bed 
filled  a  broad  valley  running  north  and  south,  and  surrounded  by  a 
parallelogram  of  mountains.  The  area  thus  comprised  was  about  two 
hundred  and  ten  square  miles  of  pure  vegetable  loam,  locally  known  as  the 
Lake  of  Tlahualilo.  This  cuenca,  or  bowl,  was  the  spot  chosen  about 
six  years  ago  for  the  establishment  of  the  great  irrigation  enterprise. 

The  problems  involved  called  for  courage  and  high  administrative 
qualities,  as  well  as  technical  engineering  knowledge.  It  had  early 
developed  that  the  lands  left  dry  by  the  changed  course  of  the  river 
were  of  extraordinary  fertility,  and  half  a  century  ago  these  tracts, 
immediately  adjacent  to  the  river,  had  been  taken  up  and  brought 
under  irrigation  after  the  rough  methods  then  practised.  The  result 
was  that,  by  1890,  about  250,000  acres  of  this  land  were  under  ditch, 
and  the  region  was  producing  the  greatest  part  of  the  cotton  grown  in 
Mexico,  as  well  as  heavy  crops  of  corn  and  wheat.  The  Tlahualilo 
basin  was  known  to  be  the  richest  portion  of  this  district,  but  the 
thirty  miles  of  sun-baked  desert  separating  it  from  the  present  course 
of  the  river  presented  an  obstacle  to  utilization  which  proved  too 
formidable  for  the  cultivators  of  the  Laguna  country.  In  1889  a 
project  was  formulated  for  carrying  a  ditch  across  the  intervening 
desert  to  the  head  of  the  Tlahualilo  cuenca,  and  converting  the 
whole  of  the  latter  area  into  a  huge  hacienda. 

Preliminary  survey  showed  that  the  lowest  level  of  the  basin  to  be 
irrigated  was  about  100  feet  below  the  point  on  the  river  Nazas 
which  it  was  proposed  to  dam  ;  that  the  main  canal,  on  account  of 
topographical  conditions,  would  require  a  development  of  39  miles  ; 
and  that  the  slope  of  the  lands  within  the  basin  was  such  that  about 
175  square  miles  out  of  the  210  composing  the  basin  could  be  advan- 
tageously irrigated.  A  company  was  formed  to  undertake  the  work. 


Urrigatfon,  69 

A  dam  of  piles  and  riprap  was  thrown  across  the  river  at  a  point  where 
it  is  about  1500  feet  wide  at  flood.  From  this  dam  the  line  of  the 
main  canal  was  traced  to  the  entrance  of  the  Tlahualilo, — a  distance 
of  39  miles.  The  canal  terminated  in  a  distributing  tank  at  the  en- 
trance to  the  irrigable  area,  whence  it  bifurcated,  one  arm  being  car- 
ried along  the  western  side  of  the  basin. 

The  rainfall  in  the  Bolson  of  Mapimi  is  confined  to  a  few  days  of 
heavy  showers  about  the  beginning  of  June  and  the  beginning  of  De- 
cember. But  up  in  the  mountains  of  Durango,  where  the  Nazas  takes 
its  rise,  the  rainfall  at  the  same  season  is  very  heavy  and  protracted, 
resulting  in  high  water  in  the  river,  which  lasts  for  several  weeks  at  a 
time.  It  is  during  these  freshets  that  the  cultivated  lands  in  the  Nazas 
district  are  irrigated.  For  the  rest  of  the  year  they  receive  no  water, 
except  from  occasional  brief  showers.  In  the  Tlahualilo  basin,  a  week 
or  ten  days  of  irrigation  is  all  that  is  needed  in  the  course  of  a  year, 
the  water  soaking  easily  and  quickly  through  the  almost  impalpable 
silt,  and  the  hot  sun  forming  a  protecting  crust  which  checks  evapora- 
tion, and  retains  the  moisture  in  the  subsoil  for  a  surprisingly  long 
time.  In  fact,  owing  to  their  long  roots,  the  cotton  plants  strictly  re- 
quire irrigation  only  once  every  other  year,  but  corn  and  wheat,  of 
course,  must  receive  it  at  each  planting.  The  distribution  of  the 
waters  is  regulated  by  government  schedule,  each  property  on  the 
river  being  allotted  its  proportion  of  water,  according  to  priority  of 
settlement.  Each  canal  on  the  river  is  permitted  to  take  as  many  irri- 
gations as  it  desires  during  the  season  of  high  waters,  but  in  strict 
rotation.  That  is,  after  a  property  has  taken  one  quota,  it  cannot  re- 
peat the  process  until  all  the  others  have  taken  theirs,  when  its  second 
quota  is  available.  Where  another  property,  as  often  happens,  does 
not  care  to  use  all  the  water  to  which  it  is  entitled,  its  further  allot- 
ments may  be  used  by  its  neighbor.  The  waters,  on  leaving  the  river, 
are  heavily  charged  with  sediment  largely  volcanic  in  its  origin,  and 
this  is  deposited  on  the  lands  at  each  flooding  in  the  shape  of  extremely 
fine  mud. 

Six  years  of  experience  with  this  property  demonstrates  the  fact 
that  irrigation,  when  applied  to  fertile  land  under  a  carefully  planned 
and  thoroughly  executed  system,  where  the  water  supply  is  owned  by 
the  user,  puts  agriculture  among  the  least  dubious  of  industries.  The 
system  adopted  by  the  Tlahualilo  Company  is  especially  worthy  of  atten- 
tion, because  of  the  notable  unity  of  plan  pursued  from  the  inception 
of  the  enterprise  to  its  fullest  development,  and  of  its  resultant  econo- 
mies. It  was  on  this  property  that  a  disastrous  experiment  of  colo- 
nization from  Alabama  took  place  in  the  year  1896,  when  hundreds  of 
negroes  were  taken  from  Alabama  and  other  points  of  the  southern 
portion  of  the  United  States  under  the  supposition  that  they  could 


70  Geocjrapbical  IRotes  on 

withstand  the  down-pour  of  the  tropical  sun  of  Mexico,  and  by  their 
knowledge  of  the  cultivation  of  cotton  succeed  in  carrying  out  the 
purpose  of  the  men  who  undertook  the  enterprise.  Unused  to  food 
conditions  in  Mexico,  especially  for  want  of  bacon  and  corn  bread, 
they  were  infested  with  sickness,  which  caused  great  mortality  among 
them,  and  frightened  and  demoralized  they  fled  from  Tlahualilo,  this 
experiment  showing  very  plainly  that  Mexican  planters  cannot  rely  for 
labor  on  the  colored  people  of  the  United  States. 

The  production  of  cotton  and  corn  in  the  vicinity  of  Torreon  can 
be  increased  eightfold  by  building  reservoirs  in  the  Nazas  River  and 
its  tributary  canons,  to  hold  the  water  back  for  the  irrigation  of  the 
vast  area  of  fine  cotton  and  corn  lands  that  are  yet  unproductive, 
simply  through  the  non-retention  of  the  great  amount  of  water  flowing 
to  the  sea,  unused,  annually,  and  the  same  result  could  be  obtained 
by  doing  the  same  thing  with  many  other  rivers  in  Mexico.  With  one- 
fourth  of  the  water  now  needed  to  produce  a  good  crop,  the  same 
amount  of  grain  can  be  produced  by  good  cultivation.  The  reason  is 
that  by  the  methods  now  in  vogue  in  most  parts  of  the  country,  so  little 
soil  is  loosened  by  the  plow  that  nearly  all  the  water  runs  off,  where 
rain  is  relied  on,  and  only  with  a  great  amount  of  rain  can  a  crop  be 
raised.  When  irrigation  is  used,  the  water  required  to  keep  the  hard 
ground  moist  is  entirely  in  excess  of  the  reservoir,  rain,  and  river  sup- 
plies. This  is  the  reason  of  the  short  grain  supply  and  of  the  necessity 
for  importing  during  years  of  drought  large  quantities  of  corn.  If  the 
ground  were  plowed  deep  and  well,  it  would  absorb  most  of  the  rainfall 
and  create  sufficient  surface  moisture  to  meet  the  moisture  from  below, 
which  would  counteract  the  dry  action  of  the  atmosphere  on  the  soil 
and  roots  of  the  grain,  which,  by  its  luxuriant  growth,  would  soon  shade 
the  ground,  and  thus  contribute  still  further  to  the  retention  of  moisture. 

The  fact  is,  taking  Mexico  as  a  whole,  that  there  is  not  a  year  so 
dry  but  that  with  good  cultivation,  sufficient  grain  can  be  raised  to 
supply  domestic  demands,  while  all  the  excess  above  that  quantity  in 
favorable  seasons  should  be  used  as  feed  for  stock,  which  would  supply 
the  large  quantities  of  lard,  tallow,  hard-oil,  etc.,  now  being  imported, 
and  would  leave  a  large  amount  for  export,  together  with  a  consider- 
able quantity  of  meat  for  the  same  purpose,  thus  helping  to  cover  the 
balance  of  foreign  trade  and  keeping  our  silver  dollars  in  the  hands 
of  the  farmers  and  stockmen,  to  improve  and  increase  their  lands, 
herds,  and  flocks. 

FAUNA. 

The  present  Mexican  fauna  belongs,  like  its  flora,  to  the  North 
American  zone,  so  far  as  regards  the  plateau  regions,  and  to  the  An- 
tilles in  respect  to  the  coast  lands  round  the  Gulf,  while  that  of  the 


JFauna.  7i 

Pacific  seaboard  is  intermediate  between  the  Californian  and  South 
American.  In  the  general  aspect  of  its  terrestrial  animals,  Mexico 
is  connected  more  with  the  United  States,  whereas  in  its  marine  forms 
the  reverse  movement  has  taken  place.  Thus  the  prevailing  species  in 
the  Gulf  of  Mexico  as  far  as  Tamaulipas  and  Texas,  and  the  Pacific 
coast  northwards  to  Sonora  and  Lower  California,  have  migrated  from 
South  America.  The  species  in  the  two  oceanic  basins  differ  almost 
completely  ;  and,  despite  the  proximity  of  the  Pacific  and  Atlantic 
shores,  their  shells  are  quite  distinct. 

The  fauna  includes  three  species  of  large  felidae,  the  puma  or 
American  lion,  jaguar,  and  ocelot  ;  among  the  smaller  is  the  wildcat. 
Wolves  are  common  in  the  northern  States,  and  also  the  coyote  ;  be- 
sides which  there  are  bears,  wild  boars,  and  bisons.  A  species  of 
sloth  is  found  in  the  southern  forests,  with  five  varieties  of  monkeys. 
Of  the  other  wild  animals  the  principal  are  hares,  rabbits,  squirrels, 
two  or  three  kinds  of  deer,  beavers,  moles,  martens,  and  otters. 

All  the  domestic  animals  introduced  by  the  early  Spanish  settlers 
have  multiplied  prodigiously.  The  horses,  though  small,  retain  the 
spirit  and  graceful  form  of  the  Andalusian  or  Arabian  stock,  from 
which  they  mainly  sprang. 

The  waters  of  the  estuaries  and  coast  streams  teem  with  fishes,  all 
the  numerous  varieties  of  which  differ  on  the  two  oceanic  slopes,  but 
still  present  a  certain  analogy  in  their  general  distribution.  Turtles 
are  taken  in  considerable  numbers  on  the  coast,  and  the  carey,  or 
turtle-shell,  of  Yucatan  and  Guerrero  is  the  object  of  a  trade  valued  at 
$20,000  yearly. 

The  ophidians  are  represented  by  a  few  boas  in  the  southern  forests, 
and  several  species  of  snakes,  some  extremely  venomous,  as  the  rattle 
and  coral  snakes.  The  largest  lizard  is  the  iguana,  whose  flesh  is  by 
some  of  the  natives  used  as  food.  Noxious  insects  infest  the  hot 
regions  in  myriads  ;  alacranes,  or  scorpions,  in  two  different  varieties, 
are  everywhere  feared,  and  many  children  were  every  year  killed  by 
their  sting  in  the  city  of  Durango  before  the  proper  antidote  was 
found  and  used.  Scolopendras,  gigantic  spiders,  tarantulas,  and  mos- 
quitoes abound. 

Bees  are  numerous  and  their  wax  is  an  article  of  export,  and  the 
silkworm,  though  comparatively  neglected,  yields  an  annual  profit  of 
some  importance.  The  birds  of  prey  are  eagles,  hawks,  and  zopilotes, 
or  turkey-buzzards,  the  scavengers  of  the  coast  towns,  with  three  or 
four  species  of  owls.  Domestic  fowl  are  extremely  abundant.  The 
parrots,  humming-birds,  trogons,  and  so  forth,  vie  in  richness  of 
plumage  with  those  of  Brazil,  and  the  Mexican  songsters,  the  prince 
of  which  is  the  zenzontle,  or  mocking-bird,  are  unequalled  by  those  of 
any  other  country. 


72  <3eo0rapbical  motes  on 

Of  all  the  Mexican  fauna,  two  only  have  been  domesticated  :  the 
huahulotl  (Meleagris  Mexicand),  which  is  a  species  of  duck,  and  the 
turkey,  introduced  into  Europe  by  the  Spaniards  from  the  West  Indies, 
hence  by  the  French  called  "  coq  d'Inde."  The  techichi,  an  edible 
dumb  dog,  was  soon  exterminated  when  taxed  by  the  Spanish  authori- 
ties. The  other  farmyard  animals  have  all  been  introduced  into  Mex- 
ico by  the  conquerors. 

In  the  Gulf  of  California,  and  especially  near  La  Paz,  and  the  neigh- 
boring archipelagoes,  extensive  beds  of  pearl  oysters  are  fished.  Some 
other  islands  in  the  same  gulf  are  frequented  by  myriads  of  various 
species  of  aquatic  birds,  and  have  already  yielded  many  hundred  car- 
goes of  guano. 

It  is  noteworthy  that  the  Pacific  islands,  lying  at  some  distance 
from  the  coast,  have  all  a  fauna  different  from  that  of  the  mainland. 
Thus  the  little  Tres  Marias  group,  about  sixty  miles  off  the  coast  of 
Jalisco,  has  a  special  species  of  humming-bird.  The  Revillagigedo 
Archipelago  also  forms  a  separate  zoological  zone,  and  the  island  of 
Guadalupe,  over  one  hundred  and  fifty  miles  distant  from  Lower  Cali- 
fornia, has  eleven  species  of  land  birds,  every  one  of  which  differs 
from  the  corresponding  species  on  the  adjacent  continent. 

ETHNOLOGY. 

Mexico  is  inhabited  by  native  Indians  found  there  during  the  Span- 
ish conquest,  by  descendants  of  the  conquerors  of  Mexico  and  other 
European  races,  and  by  a  mixture  of  the  two.  There  are  so  few  in- 
habitants of  African  descent  that  it  is  hardly  worth  while  speaking  of 
them.  The  proportion  of  this  population  is  about  as  follows  :  Of  Eu- 
ropean descent,  19  per  cent.  ;  native  Indians,  43  per  cent.  ;  mixed  races, 
38  per  cent. 

Mexican  Indians. — The  native  Indians  found  by  the  Spaniards  be- 
long to  several  nations  and  tribes,  having  different  features  and  entirely 
distinct  languages.  The  principal  of  these  tribes  are  the  following^ 
some  of  which  are  now  extinct  : 

Otomi,  Apache,  Tarahumara, 

Chichimec,  Irritilas,  Tepehuan, 

Huaxtec,  Tamaulioecs,  Sabaibos, 

Totonac,  Zacotec,  Acaxee, 

Mixtec,  Huastec,  Xixime, 

Zapotec,  Zoque*,  Concho, 

Mahuas,  Opata,  Manosprietas, 

Toltec,  Guaicuri,  Comanche, 

Olmecs,  Yaqui,  Cuachichils, 

Xicalancs,  Mayo,  Tarascos, 

Tula,  Seri,  Mixe. 


73 

These  tribes  have  been  classified  in  the  following  families  : 

Mexican  Family  ;  Totonaca  Family  ; 

Sonorense  Opata-Pima  Family  ;  Mixteco-Zapoteca  Family  ; 

Guaicura  y  Cochimi  Laimon  Fam-  Matlalzinga  6  Pirinda  Family  ; 

ily  ;  Maya-Quiche  Family  ; 

Seri  Family  ;  Chontal  Family  : 

Tarasco  Family  ;  Huave  Family  ; 

Zoque-Mixe  Family  ;  Apache  Family  ; 

Otomi  Family. 

There  is  a  great  deal  of  similarity  between  the  Mexican  Indians 
and  the  Malay  Asiatic  races — especially  the  Japanese  branch — which 
gives  foundation  to  the  idea  that  the  aborigines  of  Mexico  originally 
came  from  Asia,  or  vice  versa.1  Their  intensely  black  hair  and  eyes, 
their  brown  or  yellow  color,  their  small  stature  and  the  slight  obliquity 

1  The  following  extracts  from  the  San  Francisco,  Cal.,  Bulletin  of  June  7,  1897, 
confirm  my  views  on  the  subject : 

"  Information  is  received  from  Australia  concerning  the  reports  of  F.  W.  Christian 
of  the  Polynesian  Society,  who  has  returned  to  Sydney  after  an  extended  tour  of  the 
islands  of  the  South  Seas,  the  Caroline  group  especially,  where  he  has  been  on  a  suc- 
cessful search  for  ethnological  specimens.  These  reports  are  of  great  importance  to  the 
scientific  world  and  are  said  to  let  much  light  on  a  vexed  question  which  has  puzzled  the 
most  learned  savants  for  years.  Mr.  Christian  has  discovered  extensive  traces  of  the 
Chinese  and  Japanese  in  the  islands  of  the  Pacific,  and  claims  to  have  discovered  evi- 
dence pointing  to  the  existence  of  a  civilization  of  nearly  two  thousand  years  ago,  which 
is  linked  with  the  ancient  civilization  in  Central  America,  and  will  probably  explain  the 
origin  of  the  Aztec  races. 

"  Under  the  auspices  of  the  Polynesian  Society,  according  to  advices  from  Sydney, 
via  Honolulu,  received  per  Coptic  yesterday,  Mr.  Christian  worked.  The  gentleman 
spent  nearly  two  years  looking  for  traces  of  the  Chinese  in  the  islands,  and  was  lucky 
enough  to  find  ancient  records,  specimens  of  handiwork  and  weapons  which  proved 
that  Asiatic  races  were  extensive  traders  among  the  South  Sea  group  thousands  of  years 
ago.  Evidence  of  a  very  decisive  nature  was  secured  which  shows  that  a  large  trade 
was  carried  on  via  the  islands  of  the  Caroline  group,  between  China  and  Central  Am- 
erica, and  that  the  ancient  Chinese  were  more  inclined  to  emigrate  than  their  latter-day 
brethren  and  colonized  extensively. 

"  Extensive  inquiries  were  made  as  to  the  traditions  of  the  islanders,  and  many 
discoveries  were  made  concerning  the  early  history  of  the  Malays  with  regard  to  naviga- 
tion, all  proving  that  the  Torres  strait's  route  to  the  Pacific  was  not  taken,  but  that 
voyages  were  made  to  many  of  the  Caroline  islands. 

' '  The  coincidence  is  a  strange  one  that  a  despatch  from  Hermosillo,  Mexico,  dated 
June  6th,  reports  that  a  rock  recently  discovered  in  the  mountains  of  Magdalena  dis- 
trict, State  of  Sonora,  which  is  covered  with  Chinese  inscriptions,  has  just  been  visited 
by  Sen  Yup,  a  well-educated  Chinese  of  Guaymas.  He  says  the  inscriptions  are  Chi- 
nese, but  are  somewhat  indistinct.  He  made  a  copy  of  them,  and  has  translated  enough 
of  the  lines  to  show  that  the  writing  was  probably  inscribed  on  the  rock  at  least  two 
thousand  years  ago. " 


74  (Beoatapbtcal  Wotes  on 

of  their  eyes,  are  features  common  to  the  Mexican  Indians  and  the 
Japanese.  When  I  first  came  to  Washington,  at  the  end  of  1859,  not 
having  been  out  of  Mexico  before,  I  retained  very  vivid  recollections 
of  the  Mexican  Indians,  with  whom  I  had  been  somewhat  closely  asso- 
ciated ;  and  shortly  afterwards  the  first  Japanese  Embassy  came  to  this 
country  and  was  received  in  a  very  solemn  manner  by  Mr.  Buchanan, 
then  President  of  the  United  States.  The  Embassy  consisted  of  about 
forty  persons  altogether,  comprising  ministers,  secretaries,  interpret- 
ers, servants,  etc.,  and  were  dressed  in  their  national  gala  costumes, 
not  having  yet  adopted  the  European  one.  The  Diplomatic  Corps 
having  been  invited  to  the  reception,  I  attended  as  a  member  of  the 
same,  and  was  greatly  struck  by  the  remarkable  similarity  which  I  found 
between  the  Japanese  members  of  the  Embassy  and  the  Mexican  In- 
dians, whom  I  had  just  left.  It  seemed  to  me  that  had  I  collected  at 
random  forty  Mexican  Indians  and  dressed  them  in  the  same  gorgeous 
costumes  that  the  Japanese  wore,  nobody  could  have  detected  the 
difference. 

Some  of  the  Indian  languages  seem  to  me  to  resemble  strongly  the 
Oriental  ones,  though  of  course  I  cannot  speak  with  authority,  as  I  do 
not  know  any  of  those  languages  and  have  heard  only  the  Chinese, 
Japanese,  and  Korean  spoken  ;  but  I  am  sure  that  if  any  educated  and 
intelligent  Chinese  should  go  to  Mexico  and  spend  some  time  among 
the  Indians,  he  would  find  traces  in  the  language  which  would  con- 
tribute greatly  to  clear  up  this  problem.  Mr.  Tateno,  a  former  Japanese 
Minister,  who  visited  Mexico,  found,  during  his  short  stay  in  that  coun- 
try, several  words  that  are  used  in  Japan  and  that  have  the  same  mean- 
ing in  both  countries.  I  am  aware  that  Senor  Pimentel,  a  very  learned 
philologist,  who  made  a  special  study  of  the  languages  of  the  Mexican 
Indians,  finds  no  similarity  at  all  between  them  and  the  Chinese  or 
other  Oriental  languages  ;  and  that  even  the  Otomi  language,  which  is 
monosyllabic,  he  finds  to  have  no  similarity  to  the  Chinese.  But, 
notwithstanding  that  great  authority,  I  believe  that  the  aborigines  of 
both  continents,  that  is,  Asiatic  and  American,  were  originally  of  the 
same  race,  and  that  there  must  be  some  relationship  between  their 
respective  languages. 

The  Indians  of  the  different  tribes  do  not  generally  mix  with  one 
another,  but  intermarry  among  themselves,  and  this  fact  contributes 
largely  to  their  physical  decay,  and  makes  very  difficult,  at  least  for 
some  time  to  come,  the  complete  assimilation  of  all  the  Mexican  popu- 
lation. 

The  Mexican  Indians  are  on  the  whole  a  hard-working,  sober, 
moral,  and  enduring  race,  and  when  educated  they  produce  very  dis- 
tinguished men.  Some  of  our  most  prominent  public  men  in  Mexico, 
like  Juarez  as  a  statesman,  and  Morelos  as  a  soldier,  were  pure-blooded 


Etbnoiogs,  75 

Indians,1  and  fortunately  there  is  no  prejudice  against  their  race  in 
Mexico,  and  so  when  they  are  educated  they  are  accepted  in  marriage 
among  the  highest  families  of  pure  Spanish  blood.9 

I  have  been  a  great  deal  among  them,  and  my  knowledge  of  their 
characteristics  only  increases  my  sympathy  and  admiration  for  them. 
In  the  State  of  Oaxaca,  for  instance,  where  I  spent  the  early  years  of 
my  life,  I  have  seen  Indians  from  the  mountain  districts,  who,  when 
they  had  to  go  to  the  capital,  especially  to  carry  money,  would  form 
parties  of  eight  or  ten  to  make  a  ten  days'  round  trip,  carrying  with 
them  their  food,  which  consists  of  roasted  ground  corn,  which  they 
take  three  times  a  day  ;  stopping  at  a  brook  to  mix  it  with  water,  and 

1  Sir  William  Kingston,  President  of  the  Surgery  Section  in  the  Second  Pan- 
American  Medical  Congress,  held  at  the  City  of  Mexico  in  October,  1896,  in  an  in- 
terview which  was  published  by  The  Gazette  of  Montreal,  Canada,  of  December  2, 
1896,  said,  concerning  his  visit  to  Mexico,  among  other  things  : 

"  The  pure-blooded  Indian  was  seen  on  all  sides.     .     .     . 

' '  The  Spaniards  would  seem  to  have  pursued  the  same  course  as  was  followed  by 
the  original  French  settlers,  they  did  not  shove  aside  the  native  Indians  as  useless  lum- 
ber, to  be  gotten  out  of  the  way,  as  a  distinguished  Harvard  professor  puts  it,  but  they 
treated  them  as  people  in  possession  of  the  soil,  with  whom  it  was  not  only  right  but 
proper  to  ally  in  marriage.  I  have  always  regarded  our  North  American  Indian  as 
the  best  type  of  the  aborigines  in  stature.  I  still  believe  he  is,  but  not  so  in  intellect. 
The  broad,  massive  forehead  of  the  native  of  Mexico,  and  his  soft  but  prominent  and 
intelligent  eye,  are  evidences  of  mental  power.  .  .  ." 

*  I  take  from  a  spicy  article  published  by  Mr.  Charles  Dudley  Warner,  in  Har- 
per's Magazine  for  June,  1896,  the  following  description  of  the  dress  of  the  poorer 
classes  in  Mexico  : 

"  Herbert  Spencer  might  extend  here  his  comments  on  the  relation  of  color  to 
sex.  It  is  the  theory  that  all  the  males  of  birds  have  gay  plumage  in  order  to  make 
them  attractive  to  the  other  sex,  while  the  females  go  in  sober  colors.  This  is  also 
supposed  to  hold  true  of  barbarous  nations.  The  men  who  dress  at  all,  or  use  paint 
as  a  substitute,  wear  bright  colors  and  more  ornaments  than  the  women,  while  the  gen- 
tle sex  is  content  to  be  inconspicuous.  Needless  to  say  that  in  what  we  call  civiliza- 
tion, this  rule  is  reversed.  The  men  affect  plain  raiment,  while  the  women  vie  with 
the  tropical  birds  of  the  male  gender.  Tried  by  this  test  Mexico  has  not  reached  the 
civilization  of  the  United  States.  The  women  of  the  lower  orders  are  uniformly  sober 
in  apparel,  and  commonly  wear  drawn  over  the  head  a  reboso  in  plain  colors.  The 
scant  dress  is  usually  brown  or  pale  blue.  It  is  the  men  who  are  resplendent,  even  the 
poorest  and  the  beggars.  The  tall  conical  hats  give  to  all  of  them  an  "  operatic  "  dis- 
tinction ;  the  lower  integuments  may  be  white  (originally)  as  also  the  shirt  and  the 
jacket ;  or  the  man  may  have  marvellous  trousers,  slit  down  the  sides  and  flapping 
about  so  as  to  show  his  drawers,  or  sometimes,  in  the  better  class,  fastened  down 
with  silver  buttons  ;  but  every  man  of  them  slings  over  his  left  shoulder  or  wraps 
about  him,  drawing  it  about  his  mouth  on  the  least  chill  in  the  air,  a  brilliantly  col- 
ored sarape,  or  blanket,  frequently  of  bright  red.  Even  if  he  appears  in  white  cotton, 
he  is  apt  to  wear  a  red  scarf  round  his  waist;  and  if  he  is  of  a  higher  grade,  he  has 
the  taste  of  a  New  York  alderman  for  a  cravat.  This  variety  and  intensity  of  color 
in  the  dress  of  the  men  gives  great  animation  and  picturesqueness  to  any  crowd  in  the 
streets,  and  lights  up  all  the  dusty  highways." 


76  6eoatapbtcal  Iftotes  on 

sleeping  on  the  bare  ground,  preferring  always  the  open  air ;  getting 
up  before  daylight  and  starting  on  their  journey  at  daybreak  imme- 
diately after  their  early  meal,  speaking  no  Spanish  and  travelling 
about  forty  miles  a  day.  When  they  reached  the  city  of  Oaxaca,  they 
would  remain  there  one  or  two  days,  and  go  back  to  their  homes  with- 
out taking  part  in  any  dissipation.  They  prefer  to  live  in  the  high, 
cool  localities,  and  they  have  their  patch  of  ground  to  raise  corn  and 
a  few  vegetables  in  the  hot  lowlands,  sometimes  thirty  miles  away  from 
their  homes,  and  carry  their  crops  on  their  backs  for  all  that  distance. 
They  make  very  good  soldiers,  and  military  leaders  have  used  them  to 
great  advantage  during  our  revolutions. 

Professor  Starr's  theory  that  we  are  all  on  this  Continent  assuming 
the  type  of  the  Indian,  is,  in  a  measure,  true.  It  is  nothing  new,  for  it 
was  already  indicated  by  an  English  physician  travelling  in  the  British 
colonies  before  the  United  States  were  thought  of. 

The  great  task  of  the  Mexican  Government  is  to  educate  our 
Indians  and  make  them  active  citizens,  consumers,  and  producers, 
elevating  their  condition.  Before  we  think  of  spending  money  to  en- 
courage European  immigration  to  Mexico,  we  ought  to  promote  the 
education  of  our  Indians,  which  I  consider  the  principal  public  need 
of  the  country. 

Increase  of  Mexican  Population. — In  the  beginning  of  the  century 
Baron  Humboldt,  who  visited  Mexico  and  studied  very  carefully  the 
conditions  of  the  country,  thought  that  the  Indian  race,  which  was 
then  very  numerous,  would  continue  to  increase  and  would  be  the  pre- 
ponderant race  of  Mexico,  as  far  as  numbers  were  concerned,  as  it 
showed  a  large  proportion  in  a  census  made  in  1810  by  Don  Fernando 
Navarro  y  Noriega,  and  which  appears  in  Baron  Humboldt's  Political 
Essay  of  New  Spain.  According  to  that  census  the  population  of 
Mexico  was  then  divided  as  follows  : 

European  and  American  Spaniards 1,097,928 

Indians 3,676,281 

Mixed  races  or  castes i,338>7°6 

Secular  ecclesiastics 4,229 

Regular  ecclesiastics 3,*12 

Nuns 2,098 

Total 6,122,354 

Including  among  the  Europeans  the  ecclesiastics  and  nuns,  the 
population  was,  according  to  that  census  : — 

Europeans 1,107,367  or  18  per  cent. 

Indians 3,676,281    "   60    "      " 

Mixed  races 1,338,706    "    22 

Total 6,122,354   "  100    "      " 


77 


In  the  census  of  1875  the  following  results  appear  :  — 

European  race  and  descen- 

dants of  the  Spaniards  ......  1,899,031  or  20  per  cent. 

Mixed  race  ..................  4,082,918   "   43    "      " 

Native  Indian  race  ...........  3,5  13,208   "   37    "      " 


Total 9,495,157    "100 

The  increase  of  population  in  the  65  years  which  elapsed  between 
the  two  censuses  mentioned,  deducting  from  the  census  of  1810  the 
inhabitants  of  Texas,  New  Mexico,  and  Upper  California,  who  had 
passed  to  the  United  States,  numbering  58,338,  was 

Population  of  1810 6,064,016 

Census  of  1875 9,495, J57 


Increase  of  the  population  in  the  65  years 3,431,141 

From  the  preceding  data  it  appears  that  the  European  race  nearly 
doubled  its  population  in  the  space  of  65  years,  and  at  the  rate  of  i.i 
per  cent,  of  increase  per  year  ;  that  the  mixed  race  trebled  it  at  the 
rate  of  3.25  ;  and  that  the  native  race  diminished  it  at  the  rate  of  0.058 
per  cent,  per  annum. 

Families  in  Mexico  are  generally  very  large,  often  having  ten  or 
fifteen  children.  I  remember  how  much  surprise  it  caused  in  Wash- 
ington, my  stating  in  the  presence  of  Senor  Don  Jacobo  Blanco,  the 
Mexican  Commissioner  in  the  late  International  Boundary  Com- 
mission, who  was  recently  here  for  a  year  finishing  his  office  work  and 
maps  and  preparing  his  report,  that  he  was  the  twenty-fourth  child  in 
his  family,  his  father  having  been  twice  married. 

Decrease  of  the  Indian  Population. — It  further  appears  that  the  In- 
dian population  has  been  decreasing  since  the  beginning  of  the  present 
century,  notwithstanding  the  fact  that  the  Indian  race  on  the  whole  is 
very  prolific. 

The  causes  of  the  decrease  of  the  Indian  population  in  Mexico  are 
various  ;  bad  nourishment,  insufficient  shelter  from  the  inclemency  of 
the  weather,  wretched  attendance  in  sickness,  and  many  others,  some 
of  which  I  shall  mention  here,  having  contributed  toward  the  degener- 
ation and  decline  of  the  race. 

The  small-pox,  owing  to  the  carelessness  or  indolence  of  the  par- 
ents in  regard  to  vaccination,  or  their  repugnance  to  it,  causes  deplor- 
able ravages  in  this  race,  more  especially  among  the  individuals  that 
live  at  any  considerable  distance  from  the  cities. 

Indian  women,  even  when  far  advanced  in  pregnancy,  do  not  ab- 


78  Geoarapbfcal  "Notes  on  flDejico. 

stain  from  hard  labor,  and,  without  any  care  for  their  coming  offspring, 
continue  grinding  their  corn  until  the  moment  of  parturition.  Then, 
before  the  proper  time  for  taking  the  child  from  the  breast,  it  is  fed 
with  food  unsuitable  for  its  age  and  difficult  of  digestion,  which  occa- 
sions diarrhoea  or  other  maladies  that  either  cause  its  death  or  at  least 
contribute  to  its  imperfect  development. 

Another  circumstance  which  causes  the  degeneration  of  the  Indians 
is  their  premature  marriages.  In  Mexico  the  marriageable  age  for  wo- 
men has  been  fixed  by  law  at  eighteen  years,  and  in  the  tierra  caliente, 
or  hot  country,  at  fourteen  ;  but  in  some  places  Indian  girls  are  married 
at  twelve.  Every  Indian  father  considers  it  his  duty  to  marry  his 
children,  whether  boys  or  girls,  as  soon  as  they  are  of  age,  the  parents 
of  course  making  the  match  to  suit  themselves. 

This  used  to  be  the  case  not  only  with  the  Indians,  but  even  with 
persons  of  Spanish  descent.  I  once  heard  General  Degollado,  a  very 
good  and  prominent  man  in  Mexico,  say,  that  the  day  he  married  he 
took,  immediately  after  the  ceremony  was  over,  his  bean-shooter  and 
went  to  shoot  birds,  because  he  had  no  conception  of  what  he  had  done, 
his  parents  having  arranged  the  match  for  him  ;  but  he  added  that  he 
could  not  possibly  have  made  a  better  choice  of  a  wife. 

The  Indians  are  strong  by  nature  ;  and  in  this  is  to  be  found  the  fact 
that  so  many  of  them  reach  an  advanced  age,  in  spite  of  their  scant 
and  poor  food,  their  unhealthy  mode  of  living,  and  their  damp  and  un- 
wholesome habitations,  consisting  of  miserable  huts  where  whole 
families  are  huddled  together. 

The  Spaniards  in  Mexico. — The  Spaniards  are  a  money-making, 
wonderfully  frugal  race,  since  they  have  been  battling  with  hard  con- 
ditions at  home  for  centuries.  The  Spaniard  in  Mexico  is — as  Richard 
Ford  who  spent  thirty  years  in  the  peninsula,  and  who  was  a  close  ob- 
server, depicts  him — a  hardy,  temperate  man,  well  fitted,  under  favor- 
able conditions,  to  become  a  dominant  influence. 

In  Mexico,  the  energy  of  the  Spaniard  is  remarkable.  He  is  force- 
ful of  word  and  phrase,  energetic  in  his  movements,  immensely  vital, 
tremendously  persistent,  and  wonderfully  enduring.  After  thirty  years 
behind  a  counter  selling  groceries,  he  retires,  a  man  of  fortune  ;  not 
always  large,  but  sufficient,  and  is  still  a  man  of  force  and  ready  for 
undertakings  demanding  good  brain  power  and  courage.  They  come 
over  mere  lads,  from  ten  to  fifteen,  toil  and  moil,  feed  frugally,  and 
sleep  hardly,  and  they  become  millionaires,  bank  directors,  great  mill 
owners,  farmers  on  a  grand  scale,  hot-country  planters  and  monopolists, 
for  the  Spaniard  is  born  with  the  "  trust "  idea  ;  while  his  sons  are  too- 
often  dudes  and  spendthrifts. 

The  thrifty  Spaniard  toils  and  saves,  and  his  ambition  is  to  marry  a. 
rich  girl,  frequently  the  daughter  of  a  Mexican  landowner,  and  so  he 


lays  the  foundation  for  permanent  wealth  ;  for  everywhere,  the  world 
over,  the  man  who  gets  the  lands  and  holds  on  to  them  is  the  wealthy 
man.  Speculators  and  financiers  come  and  go  like  bubbles  on  a  river, 
but  the  landed  proprietor  keeps  a  permanent  clinch  on  humanity. 

There  is  one  check  to  the  growth  of  Spanish  influence  in  Mexico, 
and  that  is  the  climate.  All  Europeans,  no  matter  what  their  nation- 
ality, become  physically  modified  by  residence  in  the  new  world  ;  and 
nowhere  is  the  effect  of  climate  more  noticeable  than  in  the  tropics. 
The  children  of  the  Spanish  residents  are  less  energetic  than  the  parents, 
and  the  third  generation  are  altogether  Creoles.  Just  as  the  Mexican 
of  Spanish  descent  is,  as  a  rule,  less  energetic,  not  so  vascular,  and  less 
vigorous  than  the  Spaniard,  so  is  the  American  less  full-blooded  and 
leaner  than  the  Englishman.  The  change  that  takes  place  in  the  hu- 
man organization,  transplanted  from  the  old  world  to  the  new,  is  a  pro- 
found one. 

English  and  Germans  in  Mexico. — The  present  century  has  seen 
many  changes  in  the  commercial  world  of  Mexico  ;  the  great  English 
houses  have  almost  all  disappeared  ;  especially  has  this  been  marked  in 
the  dry-goods,  or  draper's  business.  The  Germans,  with  superior  econ- 
omy, if  with  no  more  of  enterprise,  drove  the  English  out  of  that  pro- 
fitable business,  and  in  time  themselves  succumbed  to  the  still  closer 
methods  of  the  Barcelonettes  who  gained  a  foothold  in  the  business 
which  they  have  successfully  maintained.  The  dry-goods  business  in 
the  Republic  is  largely  in  the  hands  of  men  who  speak  the  French 
language.  From  the  great  houses  of  the  capital  go  forth  bright  young 
men,  trained  to  business  habits  who  are  established  over  branch  con- 
cerns in  the  interior  and  coast  towns.  Their  employers  become  their 
backers,  and  a  close  intimacy  is  maintained,  to  the  mutual  advantage  of 
older  and  younger  merchants. 

Very  few  of  the  foreigners  who  settle  in  Mexico,  and  especially 
Spaniards,  are  educated,  as  most  of  them  hardly  know  how  to  read 
and  write.  They  very  seldom  become  naturalized  Mexicans,  and  almost 
always  keep  their  allegiance  to  the  country  of  their  origin.  That 
seemed  natural  when  Mexico  was  in  constant  turmoil,  and  many  of  the 
foreigners  going  there  expected  to  make  large  fortunes  by  means  of 
diplomatic  claims  ;  but  that  reason  can  hardly  hold  good  now,  when 
the  country  is  at  peace,  and  perfect  security  is  extended  to  every  in- 
habitant. If  the  foreigners  continue  keeping  their  old  nationality 
when  they  become  permanent  settlers  of  Mexico,  some  changes  may 
be  necessary  in  the  legislation  of  the  country  affecting  their  condition. 

Americans  in  Mexico. — It  will  be  very  difficult  for  the  fun-loving,, 
self-indulgent,  Anglo-Saxon  Englishman  of  America  to  compete  with 
these  self-denying  Spaniards,  capable  of  living  with  the  nose  to  the 
grindstone  twenty,  twenty-five,  or  thirty  years,  eating  always  sparingly, 


8o  (Seograpbfcal  iRotes  on  flDejico. 

drinking  wine,  but  in  moderation,  spending  no  money,  dressing  poorly, 
and  ever  with  a  fortune  accumulating.  The  American  wants  to  cut  a 
dash  and  so  does  the  Englishman,  else  the  English  would  have  main- 
tained their  commercial  supremacy  in  Mexico.  They  lost  it  to  the 
more  frugal  and  economical  Germans. 

The  American  is  a  speculator,  a  dreamer  of  golden  dreams  ;  he  lives 
for  the  eyes  of  other  people  ;  he  is  not  capable  of  the  patience  that 
keeps  a  man  tied  to  a  desk  or  shop  for  half  a  lifetime,  making  a  savings 
bank  of  himself. 

Some  Mexicans  are  afraid  that  a  free  influx  of  citizens  from  this 
country  may  Americanize  it.  This  is  true  as  to  the  means  of  trans- 
portation, the  introduction  of  electric  lights,  improved  hotel  accomo- 
dations,  and  where  similar  improvements  are  concerned.  But  there  is 
no  doubt  of  the  persistence  of  traditions  and  habits,  and  the  influence 
of  climate.  It  is  difficult  to  introduce  the  American  push  and  restless- 
ness in  business,  and  to  overcome  the  habits  formed  in  many  centuries 
of  letting  the  morrow  take  care  of  itself.  There  must  be  the  mid-day 
siesta,  and  the  number  of  working  days  is  reduced  by  several  feast 
days,  saints'  days,  and  holidays,  besides  the  Sundays.  There  is  no 
doubt  that  the  productiveness  of  nature  is  an  inducement  to  very 
leisurely  labor,  and  the  lack  of  any  sharp  division  of  seasons  is  a  sort 
of  moral  discipline,  as  well  as  a  stimulus  to  extra  exertion  in  summer 
to  prepare  for  winter.  What  must  be  the  effect  upon  character  when 
this  stimulus  is  wanting?  It  is  possible,  of  course,  that  industry  will 
be  stimulated  by  the  inflow  of  settlers  from  the  north,  and  that  Mexico 
will  take  on  new  enterprise  and  productive  vigor  ;  but  I  think  it  is 
easier  for  Americans  in  Mexico  to  fall  into  Mexican  ways  and  Mexican 
moral  views  than  it  is  to  convert  the  Mexicans  to  the  American  view 
of  life.  I  do  not  doubt  that  Mexico  has  a  great  industrial,  agricultu- 
ral, and  manufacturing  future,  but  I  fancy  that  its  power  of  absorp- 
tion, like  that  of  Egypt,  is  greater  than  its  facility  of  adaptation. 

Ruins. — We  have  in  Mexico  some  of  the  most  ancient  and  remark- 
able ruins,  and  although  there  are  different  surmises  about  the  time  at 
which  they  were  built  and  the  people  who  built  them,  nothing  is  known 
positively  about  them. 

The  principal  ones  are  in  Uxmaland  and  Chichen  Itza  in  Yucatan 
Comalcalco  in  Tabasco,  Teotihuacan  and  Cholula  in  Puebla  and 
Tlaxcala,  and  Mitla  in  Oaxaca. 

UxmaL — Uxmal  is  not  far  from  the  city  of  Merida,  the  capital  of 
the  State  of  Yucatan,  supposed  to  have  been  built  by  the  Mayas,  and 
different  books  have  been  written  about  them,  especially  one  by  Dr. 
Augustus  Le  Plongeon,  a  French  savant,  who  passed  many  years  in 
Yucatan,  studying  its  magnificent  ruins,  and  published  in  New  York, 
in  1896,  a  book  entitled  Queen  Mod  and  the  Egyptian  Sphinx,  in  which 


81 

he  contends  that  the  empire  of  the  Mayas,  which  had  its  seat  at  Yuca- 
tan, was  the  cradle  of  civilization,  and  that  from  there  it  went  to  India, 
Egypt,  and  finally  to  Greece  and  Western  Europe. 

Palenque. — Very  likely  the  same  Mayas  built  the  large  ruins  which 
still  exist  in  the  district  of  Palenque  in  the  State  of  Chiapas,  and  in 
some  places  in  Guatemala. 

Cholula. — The  great  pyramid  of  Cholula,  made  known  to  the  scien- 
tific world  by  Humboldt,  which  is  eight  miles  from  Puebla,  has  been 
pictured  and  described.  Its  base  is  1000  feet  on  each  side,  and  it  is 
built  in  two  great  terraces,  the  first  being  71  feet,  and  the  second  66 
feet,  in  height.  The  top  is  203  by  144  feet.  So  far  as  investigations 
have  revealed,  the  great  pyramid  is  artificial  and  is  constructed  of  sun- 
dried  brick. 

Teotihuacan. — Teotihuacan,  an  ancient  city  lying  twenty-five  miles 
northeast  of  the  City  of  Mexico,  and  occupying  an  area  of  about  one 
and  a  half  or  two  miles,  contains  some  of  the  most  remarkable  series 
of  ruins.  To  the  north  of  the  ruins  is  a  truncated  pyramid,  rectangu- 
lar in  form,  squared  to  the  points  of  the  compass,  and  known  as  the 
Pyramid  of  the  Moon.  South  of  it,  at  a  distance  of  about  1300  yards, 
is  another  pyramid  of  similar  form,  known  as  the  Pyramid  of  the  Sun. 
Its  perpendicular  height  is  223  feet,  and  its  base  measures  about  735 
feet  from  east  to  west.  Both  pyramids  are  united  by  a  straight  street, 
which  starts  from  a  circular  plaza  at  the  south  side  of  the  Pyramid  of 
the  Moon,  and  loses  itself  in  the  barranca  south  of  the  Pyramid  of  the 
Sun. 

These  colossal  pyramids  are  regarded  as  among  the  most  ancient 
monuments  of  Mexico,  far  antedating  the  civilization  found  by  the 
Spaniards.  They  are  wonderful  illustrations  of  what  perseverance  and 
time  will  accomplish.  Now  even  the  means  which  the  builders  used 
for  handling  the  immense  blocks  of  volcanic  stone  with  which  they 
constructed  is  unknown.  Other  ruins,  in  the  character  of  little 
mounds,  are  found  scattered  over  the  extensive  plain  in  which  the  two 
pyramids  are  situated.  The  street  or  avenue  which  united  the  latter 
is  called  the  "  Road  of  the  Dead."  Along  its  entire  length,  parallel  to 
it  on  both  sides,  there  is  a  terrace  constructed  of  cement,  clay,  and 
broken  lava,  faced  with  a  coating  of  mortar  or  plaster,  highly  polished, 
and  painted  red  and  white.  Desire  Charnay  removed  the  rubbish 
from  one  of  the  mounds  on  the  side  facing  this  road,  and  discovered 
what  he  calls  a  "  palace,"  with  two  large  halls  and  various  small  rooms. 
In  1886,  Senor  Don  Leopoldo  Batres  made  an  excavation  in  one  of 
the  mounds,  and  found  two  polychrome  frescos  painted  on  the  wall 
of  the  building  which  was  laid  bare.  The  question  is  naturally  asked, 
how  these  monuments  came  to  be  covered  ?  Was  it  by  an  earthquake, 
or  by  the  hands  of  the  builders  themselves  ?  Senor  Batres  inclines  to 

VOL.  I — 6 


82  Geoatapbical  IRotes  on  /iDejico. 

the  latter  view,  as  he  found  the  roofs  of  the  houses  perfectly  preserved, 
while  the  interior  of  the  rooms  was  in  every  case  filled  with  stones 
neatly  fitted  into  the  spaces,  and  joined  with  a  clayish  cement  to  form 
a  compact  mass.  His  conclusion  as  to  the  pyramids  is,  that  they  are 
two  great  temples  erected  to  two  old  Mexican  divinities.  Each  pyra- 
mid consists  of  five  terraces,  which  diminished  in  size  until  the  height 
of  223  feet  was  reached.  Each  has  on  one  of  its  sides  a  stairway  six 
and  one-half  feet  in  width,  which  makes  five  zigzag  turns,  and  leads  to 
the  sanctuary  or  shrine  on  the  summit.  The  outer  surface  of  the 
pyramids,  and  perhaps  the  interior  as  well,  was  plastered  over  with  a 
mortar  of  lime,  hard  and  smooth,  and  decorated  with  frescoes,  repre- 
senting quasi-historical  events  and  scenes. 

The  small  mounds  scattered  over  the  area  occupied  by  the  ruins 
were,  according  to  Batres,  dwellings  and  small  shrines.  Each  con- 
tained from  six  to  twelve  rooms,  quadrangular  and  rectangular  in  form. 
The  cornices  as  well  as  the  walls  were  beautifully  ornamented  in  colors. 
On  some  as  many  as  twenty  tints  had  been  used.  The  doors  were  rec- 
tangular, never  trapezoidal  in  form,  although  the  latter  style  has  been 
erroneously  attributed  to  ancient  American  architecture.  They  meas- 
ure eight  feet  in  height  by  about  three  feet  in  width.  The  houses  had 
neither  windows  nor  balconies.  The  city  was  crossed  by  subterranean 
aqueducts  constructed  of  stone,  the  walls  of  which  were  plastered  with 
firm  and  smooth  mortar.  Near  the  Pyramid  of  the  Moon,  among  the 
rubbish,  there  was  a  monolithic  statue  of  colossal  dimensions.  It  rep- 
resents a  woman  with  a  characteristic  head-dress,  and  wearing  a  neck- 
lace of  four  strings  of  beads.  Travellers  in  Teotihuacan  can  find 
countless  miniature  heads  modelled  in  clay  anywhere  on  the  freshly- 
plowed  stretches  of  level  land  that  lies  across  the  broad,  straight 
Micoatl,  or  "  Path  of  the  Dead."  They  vary  in  length  from  one  to  two 
inches,  and  invariably  have  nothing  more  than  a  neck  attached  to 
them.  They  may  be  distinguished  by  this  peculiarity  from  those  that 
are  applied  as  ornaments  to  terra  cotta  vases,  and  from  fragments  of 
"idols."  The  features  and  peculiar  head-dresses  that  adorn  these 
little  heads  of  Teotihuacan  vary  greatly,  and  this  diversity  has  given 
rise  to,  and  been  quoted  in  proof  of,  the  migration  of  tribes,  of  the  mix- 
tures of  widely  differing  races,  or  of  their  succession  to  each  other  in 
the  occupation  of  the  Valley  of  Mexico.  Owing  to  the  unfamiliar 
aspect  of  some  of  these  head-dresses,  it  has  been  asserted  that  they 
could  not  be  even  "  Toltec,"  but  must  be  relics  of  still  more  remote 
and  unknown  races  of  men.  Various  uses  have  been  assigned  to  them, 
the  commonest  supposition  being  that  they  were  in  some  way  associated 
with  ceremonies  relating  to  the  dead.  There  is  probably  no  subject 
connected  with  Mexican  archaeology,  except  the  calendar,  that  has  given 
rise  to  more  discussion.  Dr.  E.  B.  Tylor  regarded  them  as  a  puzzle, 


83 

and  Professor  F.  W.  Putnam  has  spoken  of  them  as  the  "  riddle  of  the 
many  heads."  Desire  Charnay  saw  in  some  of  them  Chinese  and 
Japanese  masks,  and  even  types  of  the  white  race,  proving  in  his  opin- 
ion how  many  races  must  have  been  mingled  or  succeeded  each  other 
on  this  old  continent. 

Mitla. — About  twenty  miles  east  of  the  city  of  Oaxaca  is  an  Indian 
town  called  Mitla,  near  which  still  remain  the  ruins  of  great  edifices 
and  palaces.  The  temples  were  built,  it  is  supposed,  by  the  ancient 
Zapotecas,  and  are  the  most  interesting  relics  of  the  earlier  civilizations 
of  Mexico.  The  first  description  of  these  ruins  was  given  by  the 
Spanish  priest,  Burgoa,  who  accompanied  the  conquerors  of  Monte- 
zuma.  The  interior  of  the  principal  hall  or  room  of  the  main  palace 
is  supposed  to  be  the  teocali  of  the  high  priest.  The  peculiar  archi- 
tecture and  elaborate  and  grotesque  decoration  can  easily  be  observed. 
It  is  astonishing  to  see  the  enormous  size  of  the  stones  used  in  the 
walls  of  these  temples.  Professor  Bickmore  said  that  he  had  seen 
nothing  to  equal  them  except  at  Baalbec,  in  Syria.  At  Mitla  are  found 
some  clay  images,  mostly  miniature,  doubtless  of  gods,  but  some  of 
them  no  doubt  portraits,  and  some  of  these  bore  a  striking  resemblance 
to  the  little  heads  found  at  the  pyramids  of  the  Sun  and  Moon  in 
the  Valley  of  Mexico  ;  that  is,  some  of  them  had  the  slant  Oriental 
eyes,  and  others  Ethiopian  features,  very  different  from  any  races  we 
now  know  in  these  regions.  The  ruined  temples  of  Mitla  are  covered 
with  stucco,  which  was  painted  Pompeiian  red.  There  is  a  pyramid 
also  at  Mitla,  and  there  are  some  elaborately  wrought  sepulchral 
chambers. 

I  borrow  from  Mr.  Vivien  Cory  the  following  extracts  of  his  de- 
scription of  the  ruins  of  Mitla. 

"  There  are  four  of  these  places  ;  the  first  is  almost  entirely  destroyed,  only  some 
huge  monolithic  slabs  supported  horizontally  upon  tottering  piles  of  broken  stones  re- 
maining ;  while  everywhere  amongst  the  ruins  have  sprung  up  the  grass  huts  of  the 
Mexican  Indians,  and  of  the  fourth  or  one  farthest  from  the  hamlet  nothing  but  indi- 
cation of  the  site  is  left,  upon  which  the  Spaniards  have  reared  a  modern  church.  It 
is  in  the  two  palaces  that  lie  between,  each  slightly  raised  above  the  surrounding  country 
on  a  separate  eminence,  that  the  interest  centres. 

"  One  of  these  is  in  the  form  of  a  double  Greek  cross,  its  stem  running  north  and 
south,  and  its  arms  extended  east  and  west.  In  the  centre  is  the  large  court,  surrounded 
on  all  sides  by  rising  ground  and  ruined  mounds  of  stones  :  there  are  traces  still  remain- 
ing of  the  foundations,  that  speak  of  four  apartments  built  upon  these  mounds  to  face 
the  court,  but  of  these  those  on  the  west  and  south  sides  have  disappeared  ;  on  the  east 
side,  only  two  colossal  pillars  and  a  portion  of  the  walls  remain,  while  to  the  north  side 
the  whole  apartment  forming  the  head  of  the  cross  has  been  spared  and  stands  almost 
unharmed  in  its  original  beauty  and  richness.  The  fa£ade  of  this  apartment  extends 
the  whole  length  of  the  court,  one  hundred  and  forty-one  feet,  and  its  height  is  a  little 
over  fifteen  feet :  the  material  is  freestone,  the  color  a  faint,  dull,  amber  tint,  soft  as  the 
light  seen  in  the  sky  at  evening.  In  the  centre  are  three  square  portals  and  above  these 


84  (Beoorapbical  motes  on 

forming  the  head-piece  to  them  all  extends  one  long  and  narrow  panel  of  carving,  a 
high  relief  of  the  natural  stone  on  a  crimson  ground.  The  whole  fagade  is  composed  of 
a  series  of  these  panels,  from  the  straight  line  of  the  foundation-stone  to  the  straight 
line  of  the  summit,  nine  panels  being  on  each  side  of  the  entrance,  arranged  in  three 
tiers,  divided  by  horizontal  bands  of  the  natural  stone.  In  some  of  the  panels,  the 
ground  retains  still  a  faint  tint  of  its  former  rich  vermillion,  in  others,  all  color  has 
subsided  into  the  soft  neutral  shade  of  the  freestone.  The  designs  are  wonderfully  rich 
and  varied,  thirteen  different  patterns  being  represented  on  this  fagade  alone  ;  all  these 
designs  are  remarkable  for  the  straight  lines  in  which  they  are  executed  and  the  absence 
of  all  curves.  Throughout  all  the  ruins,  upon  the  walls  of  which  appear  twenty-three 
different  models  of  carving,  only  two  of  these  represent  any  curve  in  their  design.  In 
one  of  these  two  there  is  visible  the  form  of  the  Arabic  letter  '  L '  placed  horizontally, 
and  in  the  other  a  double  curve  '  S,'  possibly  intended  to  represent  or  suggest  the  snake. 
With  these  exceptions  the  designs  are  of  the  Greek  key  pattern,  variations  on  this,  or 
parallelograms. 

"  Behind  this  fagade  is  a  narrow  court,  roofless  as  all  the  courts  are,  and  empty,  save 
for  six  colossal  pillars  standing  at  even  distances  down  the  centre,  and  giving  to  this 
chamber  the  name  of  Hall  of  the  Monoliths.  Each  pillar  is  one  solid  stone,  eleven 
feet  high  and  eleven  feet  in  circumference.  A  low  stone  passage  leads  from  this 
chamber  northward  to  the  smallest  and  richest  court  of  all,  entering  it  at  the  southeast 
corner.  There  is  comparatively  little  trace  of  the  destructiveness  of  the  elements  or 
the  iconoclasm  of  man  here.  The  court  and  all  the  four  chambers  opening  from  it  are 
perfect  and  singularly  rich  in  carving.  The  court  is  perfectly  square  and  the  chambers 
are  entered  from  it,  each  through  one  square  doorway,  the  roof  of  which  is  formed  by 
a  huge  monolith,  thirteen  feet  long  and  with  a  richly  carved  face.  Of  these  four  lin- 
tels each  has  a  separate  design.  Each  of  the  four  walls  has  six  panels,  the  uppermost 
extending  the  whole  length  of  the  wall,  two  smaller  panels  being  on  either  side  of  the 
entrance,  and  one  long  narrow  one  above  it.  Between  the  panels  stand  out  in  high 
relief  the  horizontal  and  vertical  edges  of  the  freestone,  forming  a  symmetrical  frame 
to  each  panel. 

"  Within  the  four  chambers  the  walls  are  designed  differently,  the  carving  running 
simply  and  evenly  round  the  entire  room  in  three  straight  horizontal  bands,  each  band 
possessing  a  separate  pattern  and  being  about  three  feet  in  width.  Beneath  these 
bands  of  carving  was  originally,  evidently,  a  dado  of  vermillion  stucco,  of  such  fine 
and  delicate  quality  that  the  smooth  and  polished  surface  resembles  marble.  Portions 
of  this  delicate  stucco  still  adhere  to  the  crumbling  walls  in  places  and  are  of  various 
colors,  scarlet,  black  and  white.  In  some  instances  this  stucco  seems  to  have  been 
plain,  simply  bearing  a  brilliant  polish,  in  others,  there  remains  distinctly  traced  in 
white  upon  a  crimson  ground,  a  wierd,  fantastic,  yet  handsome  design,  the  head  ;  half 
horse,  half  dragon,  repeated  in  four  inch  squares.  This  latter  ornamented  stucco,  how- 
ever, does  not  appear  except  in  the  fourth  palace,  containing  the  Spanish  church,  where 
it  is  visible  on  the  walls  of  one  of  the  courts,  now  used  as  a  stable  for  the  padre's  horse. 
Leaving  the  richest  of  the  centre  palaces,  passing  through  a  gap  in  the  ruined  wall  on 
the  south  side,  descending  the  elevation  on  which  it  is  placed  and  ascending  the  op- 
posite eminence,  the  patio  of  the  second  palace  is  reached.  This  is  almost  wholly  in 
ruins  ;  three  of  the  fagades  that  face  the  court  remain  indeed,  but  the  great  smooth 
slabs  with  which  the  walls  were  faced  have  been  torn  away  at  the  base,  and  most  of  the 
beautiful  panels  of  carving  stripped  from  the  front.  Yet  it  is  in  this  ruined  palace  that 
one  lingers  longest  and  to  which  one's  feet  return,  drawn  by  an  irrisistible  fascination  ; 
for  this  palace  contains  the  tomb  and  the  pillar  of  death. 

"  This  subterranean  vault  is  called  by  general  consent  a  sepulchre,  but  there  is  no 
line  of  history,  no  record,  no  tradition  even,  left  to  explain  to  us  its  origin  and  use.  It 


85 

may  have  been  a  torture-chamber,  sacrificial  hall,  or  tomb.  The  excavation  is  but  a  little 
below  the  surface  of  the  court,  now  carried  down  so  deeply  that  the  light  is  wholly  ex- 
cluded. From  the  entrance  there  is  enough  to  fill  the  interior  with  a  sad,  gray  twilight. 
The  vault  is  in  the  form  of  a  simple  cross  lying  north  and  south  ;  its  walls  are  massive 
and  heavily  decorated  with  panels  of  carving  let  into  their  sides,  while  it  is  roofed  by 
enormous  monolithic  slabs  that  reach  from  wall  to  wall.  In  the  centre  of  the  cross, 
just  where  by  descending  a  few  steps  one  enters  the  tomb,  stands  the  pillar  of  death, 
round  which,  the  Indians  say,  should  a  man  clasp  his  arms  he  must  shortly  afterwards 
die.  Does  not  this  very  tradition,  handed  down  perhaps  through  the  long  file  of  count- 
less years,  seem  to  indicate  that  this  pillar  was  some  ancient  stone  of  sacrifice  to  which 
human  victims  were  bound  or  chained,  and  from  which  death  alone  released  them  ? 
As  one  gazes  at  the  massive  column,  that  one  man's  arms  alone  could  not  entirely  en- 
circle, the  eye  notices  an  indentation  round  the  base  where  the  column  sinks  into  the 
floor.  The  stone  is  corroded  and  worn  away  as  by  the  long  friction  of  ropes  or  chains. 

"  Most  of  the  panels  do  not  consist  of  actual  carving,  though  they  produce  that 
effect  at  a  few  yards'  distance  ;  they  are  formed  in  reality  by  small  slabs  of  the  freestone 
cut  perfectly  square  and  inserted  edgeways  into  the  wall,  the  remaining  edges  standing 
out  at  various  distances  from  it  and  thus  forming  the  different  designs.  This,  although 
a  work  of  infinite  patience,  does  not  necessarily  presuppose  a  high  stage  of  civilization, 
no  instrument  sharper  than  hard  stone  being  required  to  cut  the  slabs  of  soft  freestone  ; 
and  that  only  a  stone  instrument  was  employed  by  the  workers  seems  indicated  by  the 
fact  that,  in  the  large  panels  where  the  stone  is  actually  carved,  the  edges  are  not  sharp, 
but  rounded,  as  if  made  with  a  blunt  tool.  The  effect  of  the  panels  of  inserted  squares 
of  stone,  however  simply  produced,  is  that  of  the  most  finished  and  clear-cut  carving 
and  the  designs  themselves  are  rich  and  elaborate.  There  is  no  crudity,  no  harshness 
in  them,  no  suggestion  of  the  primitive  savage's  scratching  on  his  native  rock ;  but 
rather  that  of  Greek  work  on  some  Athenian  temple.  The  patterns  have  a  complicated 
elegance  and  distinction  of  line  that  can  only  be  produced  by  a  people  of  cultivated 
mind  and  eye. 

"  Evidence,  too,  of  what  high  grade  of  civilization  in  some  ways  at  least  they  must 
have  arrived  at,  lies  in  the  gigantic  stones  that  they  have  placed  as  lintels  over  their 
doorways  and  which  in  their  immense  weight  and  bulk  have  defied  the  greed  or  rage  of 
all  the  succeeding  races  to  remove  or  destroy.  The  mystery  here  is  the  Egyptian 
mystery  of  the  Pyramids  ;  that  these  enormous  blocks  of  stone  are  resting  here  in  po- 
sitions and  elevations  where  it  would  require  all  the  modern  knowledge  of  mechanics, 
engineering  skill,  and  mechanical  appliances  to  place  them  ;  and,  as  in  Egypt,  so  here 
the  mystery  will  never  be  solved,  as  the  builders  have  passed  hence  and  left  no  clue. 
The  solid  stone  rests  there  upon  its  supporting  pillars  before  the  eye  as  it  has  rested 
for  a  thousand  years,  but  how  the  perished  hands  lifted  and  placed  it  there  remains  its 
own  inviolable  secret. 

' '  Leaving  the  palace  court  by  the  south  side  and  following  the  road  to  the  dry  and 
stony  bed  of  a  wide  river,  if  one  turns  aside  here  a  little  to  the  eastward  he  finds  him- 
self facing  a  Zapotecan  mound,  a  solid  base  composed  of  earth  and  stones,  in  which  are 
visible  at  intervals  large  slabs  of  cement,  portions  of  terraces  and  tiers  that  originally 
formed  its  sides.  Ascending  this,  from  the  summit  one  can  overlook  the  whole  valley." 

LANGUAGES. 

About  one  hundred  and  fifty  different  Indian  languages  are  known 
to  have  been  spoken  by  the  Mexican  Indians.  The  Spanish  monks 
accompanying  the  conquerors  and  who  went  to  the  country  soon  after- 


86 


0eo$rapbical  Iftotes  on  flDejico, 


wards  compiled  grammars  and  even  dictionaries  of  some  of  these 
languages  ;  but  the  Indians  falling  into  a  semi-barbarous  state  after 
the  conquest,  having  lost  their  civilization  and  literature,  their  lan- 
guages have  either  disappeared  completely  or  become  very  primitive, 
and  it  is  ascertained  that  some  of  them  have  become  entirely  extinct. 

The  Spanish  is,  of  course,  the  language  of  the  country  and  most 
of  the  Indians  speak  it,  although  very  imperfectly  and  incorrectly  ; 
only  a  small  portion  of  them  speaking  no  language  but  their  own. 

The  chief  languages  spoken  in  Mexico  proper,  excluding  Chiapas 
and  Yucatan,  are  as  follows  : 

Nahuatl  or  Mexican  (Aztec)  with  Acaxee,  Sabaibo,  Xixime, 
Cochimi,  Concho  and  other  members  of  the  same  family. 

Seri,  Upanguaima,  and  Guaima. 

Papago,  Opata,  Yaqui,  Mayo,  Tarahumara,  Tepehuan,  Cora,  etc. 

Apache  or  Yavipai,  Navajo,  Mescalero,  Llanero  Lipan,  etc. 

Otomi  or  Hia-hiu,  Fame,  Mazahua,  etc. 

Huaxtec,  Totonac. 

Tarascan,  Matlaltzincan. 

Mixtec,  Zopotec,  Mixe,  Zoque*,  Chinantec. 

Seftor  Don  Manuel  Orosco  y  Berra  wrote  a  treatise  on  the  language 
of  the  Indian  tribes  in  Mexico  entitled  "  Geography  of  Languages," 
which  describes  the  languages  of  the  races  who  inhabited  Mexico,  and 
Sefior  Don  Francisco  Pimentel  enlarged  upon  that  work,  making 
philological  comparisons,  and  from  the  data  collected  by  both  authors 
Senor  Don  Antonio  Garcia  Cubas  a  distinguished  Mexican  geographer 
made  the  following  synopsis  of  the  Indian  languages  spoken  in  Mexico. 

SYNOPSIS   OF    THE   INDIAN    LANGUAGES   OF    MEXICO,    FORMED    ACCORD- 
ING   TO    THE    CLASSIFICATION    OF   DON    FRANCISCO    PIMENTEL. 
NOTE. — The  sign  *  indicates  that  the  classification  is  doubtful. 


GROUPS. 

FAMILIES. 

LANGUAGES. 

DIALECTS. 

ist  Order.  —  Languages  polysyllabic, 
polysynthetic  of  sub-flexion. 

I. 

i.  Mexican,  Nahuatl  or  Azteca  

f        Conchos,  Si- 
1  naloense,  *  Ma- 

t 

MEXICAN. 

*2.  Cuitlateco  

Ise,      Ahualulco, 
Pipil,  Niquiran. 

2 

3.  Opata,  Teguima  or  Teguima  Sonorense  

i 

4.  Eudebe,    heve    or    hegue,  dohme  or  dohema- 

g 

6.  Pima,  nevome  ohotama  or  Otama  

j  Tecoripa. 

« 

7.  Pepehuan   .... 

1  Sabaqui. 
Various. 

m 

9  to  12.     El    Yuma  comprising   Cuchan,    Coco- 
maricopa  or  Opa,   Mojave  or   Mahao,  Die- 
gueno,    or    Cuneil,    Yavipai,  Yampai,    and 
yampaio  

15.  Julime  

GROUPS. 

FAMILIES. 

LANGUAGES. 

DIALECTS. 

MEXICAN-OPATA. 

1st  Order.  —  Languages  polysyllabic, 
polysynthetic  of  sub-flexion. 

II. 

SONORENSE  OR 
OPATA-PIMA. 

{Varogio  or  Chi- 
nipa,         Guaza- 
pare,     Pachera, 
and  others. 

{Yaqui,  Mayo, 
Tehueco  or  Zua- 
que. 

f  Muutzicat, 
-<  Teacucitzin, 
(Ateanaca. 

Various. 

19    Chora,  Chota,  Cora  del  Nayarit  

20    Colotlan                    .  .   . 

21    Tubar.  

24.  Acaxee  or  Topia,  comprising  Sabaibo,  Tebaca, 
and    Xixime,    the  last   of   doubtful   classi- 
fication   

III. 

COMANCHE  SO- 
SHONE. 

25.  Comanche,  Nauni,  Paduca,   Hietan  or  Getan. 
26.  Caigua  or  Kioway. 
27.  Shoshone  or  Chochone. 
28.  Wihinasht. 
29.  Utah,  Yutah  or  Yuta. 
30.  Pah-Utah  or  Payuta. 
31.  Chemegue  or  Cheme-huevi. 
32.  Cahuillo  or  Cawio. 
33.  Kechi. 
34.  Netela. 
35.  Kizh  or  Kij. 
36.  Fernandeno. 
37.  Moqui  and  some  others  spoken  in  the  United 
States  

Various. 

IV. 
TEXANA  OR  COA- 
HUILTECA. 

Various. 

V. 

*KEKES  Zuffi. 

{Kiwomi  or   Ki- 
vome,        Cochi- 
teumi    or    Qui- 
me,  Acoma  and 
Acuco. 
Various. 

40    Tesuque  or  Tegua  

43.  Zuni  or  Cibola  

VI. 

MUTSUN. 

44.  Mutsun. 
45.  Rumsen. 
46.  Achastli. 
47.  Soledad. 
48.  Costeno  or  Costanos  and  other  languages  of 
California  

VII. 

GUAICURA. 

49.  Guaicura,  Vaicura  or  Monqui. 
50.  Aripa. 
51.  Uchita. 
52.  Cora. 
53.  Concho  or  Lauretano  

VIII. 

COCHIMI-LAIMON. 

54  to  57.  Cochimi,    divided   into   four    sister  lan- 
guages, viz.  :   Cadegomo  and  the  languages 
used  in   the    missions   of   San   Javier,    San 

58.  Laimon  or  Layamon  

IX. 
SERI. 

61  .  Upanguaima  

X. 

TARASCA. 

XI. 

ZOQUE-MlXE. 

64    Mixe                                                            

Various. 

66    Tapijulapa    

88 


Oeograpbical  Iftotes  on  /iDejtco. 


GROUPS. 

FAMILIES. 

LANGUAGES. 

DIALECTS. 

XII. 

Four 

TOTONACA. 

2d  Order.     Languages  polysyllabic 
polysynthetic  of  juxtaposition. 

68.  Mixteco  

Eleven 

Twelve 

71    Popoloco  

XIII. 

Two. 

fc 

g 

75.  Amusgo  

8 

Two 

5 

irf 

*78.  Chinanteco   

H 

2 

o 

XIV. 

PlRINDA  OR  MA- 

Various 

TLALZINCA. 

a 

M 

Ng 

3d  Order.  —  Languages  Polosyllabic 
Synthetic. 

(4 

81    Punctunc  

H 

B* 

fc, 

84    Chanabal   Comitcco   Jocolobal  

O 

a 

86    Chorti  or  Chorte  

« 

87    Cakchi   Caichi   Cachi  or  Cakgi 

•< 

88    Ixil   Izil 

V) 

XV. 

89    Coxoh  

MAYA. 

5 

91    Zutuhil    Zutugil,  Atiteca   Zacapula  

W 

a 

M 

93.  Tzotzil,  Zotzil,  Tzinanteco,  Cinanteco  
94    Tzendal   Zendal      .  .   

2 

H 

O 

i 

08.  Huaxtcco  

Various 

i 

•< 

*99.  Haitianof   Ouizqueja    or    Itis,  with  their  af- 
finities, Cubano,  Borigua  and  Jamaica  

h 

XVI. 

*ioo.  Chontal  doubtful  in   its  morphologic  char- 

Q 

CHOI^TAL. 

1 

XVII. 

M 

DERIVATIVES  OF 

g 

NICARAGUA. 

M 
jjj 

n 
§ 

XVIII. 

f  North  American- 
Apache,     Mexi- 
can  Apache, 
I       Mimbreno, 

< 
h 

jo,  Xicarilla  or 
Faraon,  Lipan 
[      Mescalero. 

4th  Order.  —  Languages  cuasi-mo- 
nosyllabic. 

XIX. 

4 

Q 

Various. 

108.  Jonaz  or  Meco.     (Perhaps    the    rest    of    the 
ancient  Chichimeco)  

population.  89 

POPULATION. 

We  have  until  recently  taken  a  regularly  correct  census  of  our 
population.  The  first  reliable  census  was  made  in  1795,  under  Revil- 
lagigedo's  viceroyalty,  the  second  in  1810  by  Don  Fernando  Navarro 
y  Noriega,  the  third  one  was  estimated  by  Mr.  Poinsett,  United  States 
Minister  in  Mexico,  in  1824,  and  the  others  have  been  taken  by  the 
Mexican  Government. 

The  following  is  a  statement  of  the  general  results  of  our  various 
censuses : 

Years.  Inhabitants. 

1795 5,200,000 

1810 6,122,354 

1824 6,500,000 

1839 7,044,140 

1854 7,853,395 

1869 8,743,614 

1878 9,384,193 

1879 9,908,01 1 

1886 10,791,685 

1895 12,570,195 

The  population  of  Mexico  appears  to  be,  from  our  last  census, 
taken  in  1895,  12,570,195,  which  would  give  16.38  for  each  square 
mile  ;  but  from  my  personal  knowledge  of  the  country,  I  am  quite 
sure  that  it  is  not  less  than  15,000,000.  It  is  very  difficult  to  take  a 
correct  census  in  Mexico,  because  there  is  not  the  proper  machinery 
in  operation  for  that  purpose,  and  especially  because  a  great  many 
districts  are  inhabited  by  Indians,  who  are  impressed  with  the  fear 
that  if  they  inscribe  themselves  in  the  census  they  will  be  taxed  or 
drafted  into  the  military  service,  and  they  try  to  avoid  registration. 

A  great  many  of  our  people  live  in  such  remote  districts  that  they 
are  practically  cut  off  from  communication  with  other  portions  of  the 
country,  and  in  fact  are  almost  isolated  ;  and  this  constitutes  still 
another  difficulty  in  the  way  of  taking  a  correct  census.  These  people 
generally  raise  everything  they  need  for  their  living,  as  well  as  for 
their  clothing.  They  also  raise  their  domestic  animals,  and  wear  either 
cotton  or  woollen  clothes,  manufactured  by  the  women.  The  configu- 
ration of  the  country,  which  makes  transportation  very  expensive,  to- 
gether with  the  very  sparse  population,  has  caused  their  isolation,  and 
this  explains  why  some  agricultural  products  which  are  very  cheap  in 
other  countries  are  very  dear  in  certain  districts  of  Mexico,  as  prices 
can  be  easily  controlled,  there  being  no  possibility  of  competition. 
While  sugar,  for  instance,  costs  25  cents  per  pound  in  some  districts, 
it  can  be  had  in  others  for  one  cent.  This  fact  shows  also  that  a  year 
of  good  crops  was  often  a  real  misfortune  to  these  districts. 


90  Geoarapbical  IRotes  on 

The  upper  lands  being  the  healthiest,  most  of  the  population  in 
Mexico  is  settled  in  the  central  plateau  ;  a  relatively  small  portion 
lives  in  the  temperate  zone,  while  the  torrid  zone  is  very  thinly  popu- 
lated. I  imagine,  at  a  rough  calculation,  that  about  75  per  cent,  of  the 
population  make  their  abode  in  the  cold  zone,  from  15  to  18  per  cent, 
in  the  temperate  zone,  and  from  7  to  10  per  cent,  in  the  torrid  zone. 

From  the  synopsis  of  our  censuses,  inserted  above,  it  appears  that 
the  population  in  Mexico  has  duplicated  during  the  last  century,  and 
although  that  increase  does  not  keep  pace  with  the  increase  in  the 
United  States,  because  this  has  been  really  wonderful,  it  compares 
favorably  with  the  increase  in  other  countries.  Mexico  also,  as  a  new 
country  and  one  full  of  possibilities,  ought  to  have  increased  its  popu- 
lation more  rapidly,  but  its  slow  progress  can  be  accounted  for  in 
several  ways. 

Under  the  head  of  Ethnology  I  enumerated  the  different  races 
inhabiting  Mexico  and  stated  the  number  of  inhabitants  belonging  to 
each,  and  I  gave  at  length  the  reasons  for  the  slow  increase  of  the  In- 
dian population,  which  is  the  largest  in  Mexico.  I  will  only  add  here 
that  while  the  Indians  lead  a  very  abstemious  and  simple  life,  marry 
while  very  young  and  generally  have  a  family  of  several  children,  they 
are  at  the  same  time  subject  to  epidemics.  Notwithstanding  that  the 
race  on  the  whole  is  sturdy  and  little  subject  to  disease,  the  mortality 
is  very  large  among  the  children  for  want  of  proper  nutrition  and  care. 
The  losses  caused  by  our  civil  wars  could  not  at  all  explain  the  slow 
increase  of  our  population,  and  the  only  way  in  which  I  can  account 
for  it  is  that  they  are  not  so  well  prepared  as  the  people  of  the  United 
States  and  other  more  advanced  countries,  to  bear  the  discomforts  of 
life  and  climate,  and  that,  therefore,  they  cannot  bring  up  all  the 
children  born  in  the  family,  among  whom  there  is  annually  a  great 
mortality. 

Classification  of  Mexican  States.  Under  the  Spanish  rule  Mexico 
was  divided  into  several  provinces,  the  Spaniards  trying  to  divide  the 
provinces  in  accordance  with  the  different  nationalities  of  the  aborig- 
ines found  there,  and  each  province  possessing  a  very  large  extent 
of  territory.  After  our  independence  and  when  we  established  a  Fed- 
eral government,  each  province  was  made  a  state,  and  since  then  some 
of  the  largest  states  have  been  divided  into  two  or  even  three  smaller 
ones.  In  the  chapter  on  Political  Organizations  I  shall  give  further 
information  on  this  subject. 

The  Mexican  states  are  classified  in  several  ways,  and  generally  as 
Northern,  Southern,  Central,  Pacific,  and  Gulf  States  ;  but  it  is  difficult 
to  make  a  proper  division  of  them,  because  there  are  several  included 
in  two  denominations.  I  will,  therefore,  divide  them  into  Northern 
States,  calling  so  those  bordering  on  the  United  States  ;  Southern  States, 


population. 


those  bordering  on  Gautemala  and  Belize  ;  Gulf,  Caribbean  Sea,  and 
Pacific  States,  those  bordering  on  their  respective  waters  ;  and  Central 
States  those  which  do  not  belong  to  any  of  the  above  denominations, 
although  I  do  not  consider  this  a  proper  classification,  because  the 
State  of  Tamaulias  included  among  the  Northern  States,  and  the  States 
of  Tabasco,  Campeche,  and  Yucatan  among  the  Southern  States,  are 
all  on  the  Gulf  of  Mexico,  and  are,  therefore,  Gulf  States,  the  latter 
being  also  washed  on  their  southern  side  by  the  Caribbean  Sea,  and 
the  State  of  Sonora,  classified  as  a  Northern  State,  borders  on  the 
Pacific  ;  the  State  of  Chiapas,  included  among  the  Southern  States,  also 
borders  on  the  Pacific,  and,  therefore,  is,  like  Sonora,  also  a  Pacific 
State. 

Our  last  official  census,  taken  in  1895,  gives  the  following  results 
by  States,  which  I  compared  with  the  census  of  1879. 

AREA    AND    POPULATION    OF    THE    UNITED    MEXICAN    STATES. 


STATES. 

AREA   IN 
SQUARE 
MILES. 

POPULATION 

POPULA- 
TION PER 
SQUARE 
MILE. 

CAPITAL. 

POPULA- 
TION. 

in  1879. 

in  1895. 

Southern 
States  bor-  Northern 
dering  on  States 
Tern-  At-  Guate-  bordering 
lories.  Central.  Pacific.  lantic.  mala.  on  the  U.  S. 

Tamaulipas  

32,585 
24,324 
62,376 
87,820 
76,922 

35,214 
18,091 
10,075 
27,230 

29,210 

35,392 
25,003 

22,881 
2,273 
31,855 
33,681 

2,951 
38,020 

",374 
8,920 
2,774 
9,250 
12,207 
3,558 
i,595 
25,323 
24,764 

140,137 
203,284 
130,026 

225,541 
"5,424 

302,315 

90,4*3 
104,747 
205,362 

542,918 

744,000 
295,590 
661,534 
65,827 
983,484 
186,491 

140,430 
190,846 
834,845 
427.350 
159,160 
7^,579 
784,466 
203,250 
138,988 
516,486 
422,506 

204,206 
309,607 
235,638 
266,831 
191,281 

297,507 
90,458 
134,794 
313,678 

855,975 

882,529 
417,621 
889,795 
55,677 
1,107,863 
256,414 

103,645 
294,366 
1,047,238 
548,039 
159,800 
838,737 
979,723 
227,233 

570^814 
452,720 

144,308 
42,287 

484,608 

6-3 
13-1 
3-7 
3-0 
2.4 

8.4 
5-o 
13-3 
"•5 

29-3 
24-9 

IB* 
24.5 

34-8 
7-6 

35-i 
7-7 
92.1 
61.6 
57-6 
90.7 
80.2 
63-9 
104.6 
22.5 
18.2 

12.8 

0.7 
1046.7 

Ciudad  Victoria.  . 
Monterey  

14,575 
56,855 
19,654 
18,521 

8,376 
36,720 

16,631 
27,036 
7,882 

18,173 
32,641 

6,204 

32,287 

I9i3°5 
83,870 
14,205 

31,619 
42,165 
39,337 
52,189 
8,554 
23,648 
9I,9I7 
32,790 

6^676 
40,026 

16,266 
4,737 

i,259 
339.935 

Nuevo  Leon  
Coahuila  

Saltillo  
Chihuahua  
Hermosillo  

Merida  .  . 

Chihuahua  

Campeche  
5.  Juan  Bautista.. 
Tuxtla  Gutierrez  . 

Talapa  .  . 

Tabasco 

Veracruz  

'  Oaxaca 

Dhilpancingo  
Morelia  

Jalisco 

Guadalajara  

Sinaloa  

Aguascalientes...  . 

\guas  Calientes.  . 
Durango  
Guanajuato  
Pachuca  

Guanajuato  
Hidalgo  

3uernavaca  
Toluca 

Puebla      

Puebla  .  . 

Tlaxcala  

Tlaxcala  

San  Luis  Potosi... 
Zacatecas  

>an  Luis  Potosi  .  . 
Zacatecas  

Tepic 

Tepic  .   . 

Lower  California.  . 
Federal  District  .  . 

58,345 

463 
J.47I 

30,208 
351,804 

^a  Paz  and  
Lnsenada  de 
Todos  Santos  .  . 
3ity  of  Mexico  .  .  . 

Totals 

767,226 

9,908,011 

12,570,195 

92  <$eograpbical  "Rotes  on  flDejico. 

RELIGION. 

All  Mexicans  are  born  in  the  Catholic  Church,  that  being  the  pre- 
vailing religion  of  the  country  ;  but  there  is  no  connection  between 
Church  and  State,  and  the  Constitution  guarantees  the  free  exercise  of 
all  religions. 

While  Mexico  was  a  colony  of  Spain  and  for  many  years  afterwards, 
the  catholic  religion  was  the  only  one  allowed  in  the  country,  and 
anybody  professing  any  other  would  expose  himself  to  great  hardships 
if  he  avowed  that  he  was  a  dissenter,  especially  while  the  Inquisition 
was  in  existence. 

The  clergy  became  one  of  the  principal  pillars  of  the  Spanish  dom- 
ination in  Mexico.  In  the  early  part  of  the  present  century  the  Church 
was  flourishing,  and  it  was  the  high-water  mark  of  clerical  pros- 
perity. The  humble  Mexican  priests  did  the  hard  laborious  work, 
while  the  Spanish-born  ecclesiastics  filled  the  great  bishoprics  and 
other  great  posts  and  lived  at  their  ease,  and  the  great  convents  in 
their  most  lucrative  positions  of  control  were  practically  in  Spanish 
hands. 

Huge  convents  occupied  a  considerable  part  of  the  site  of  the 
City  of  Mexico,  Puebla,  Morelia,  Guadalajara,  Quere'taro,  and  other 
cities.  The  incomes  of  the  convents  were  derived  from  endowments, 
amounting  to  a  large  sum.  To  support  the  high  ecclesiastics,  great 
sums  were  derived  from  tithes.  The  archbishop  of  Mexico  had  an 
income  of  $130,000  a  year;  the  bishops  of  Puebla,  $110,000;  of 
Michoacan,  $100,000  ;  and  of  Guadalajara,  $90,000.  Meantime,  the 
parish  priests,  who  bore  the  brunt  of  Christian  work  among  the  masses, 
were  living  on  very  moderate  sums.  The  Church  erected  in  Mexico 
buildings  which  are  remarkable  for  their  dimensions  and  taste.1 

1  Mr.  Charles  Dudley  Warner  in  the  Editor's  Study  of  Harper's  Illustrated 
Monthly  Magazine  for  July,  1897,  speaks  in  the  following  way  of  the  church  edifices 
in  Mexico : 

"  Somebody  of  authority,  by  the  way,  ought  to  explain  why  Mexico  has  so  many 
church  edifices  that  go  to  the  heart  of  the  lover  of  beauty,  and  why  the  United  States 
has  so  few  that  are  interesting.  Aside  from  the  great  Gothic  monuments  in  Spain, 
Mexico  surpasses  Spain  in  interesting  ecclesiastical  architecture.  It  has  more  variety, 
more  quaint  beauty,  more  originality  in  towers  and  fa9ades.  The  interiors  are  gener- 
ally monotonous,  and  repetitions  of  each  other.  The  Spaniards,  in  an  age  of  faith, 
built  churches,  convents,  monasteries,  all  over  the  county,  in  remote  and  unimportant 
Indian  villages,  and  as  far  north  as  their  patient  ministers  of  religion  wandered,  even 
to  the  bay  of  San  Francisco.  In  these  edifices  the  Spanish  ingenuity  and  enthusiasm 
prevailed,  but  they  were  largely  executed  by  Indian  builders  and  artists  ;  and  if  there 
is  Sarasenic  feeling  shown,  there  are  also,  especially  in  ornamentation,  traces  of  that 
aboriginal  artistic  spirit  which,  long  before  the  Spanish  conquest,  executed  both  in  stone 
and  in  pottery  singularly  attractive  work.  Even  within  a  hundred  years  of  our  own  time 
Indian  genius  has  been  distinguished.  Those  who  think  that  this  genius  is  only  exhib- 


•(Religion*  93 

Not  all  the  great  dignitaries  of  the  Church  exhibited  an  unchristian 
selfishness,  for  many  often  spent  their  income  in  pious  and  charitable 
works,  and  in  prosecuting  missionary  undertakings  among  the  Indians 
of  the  remote  distances. 

The  wealth  of  the  Church  was  loaned  out  at  a  moderate  rate  of  in- 
terest to  landed  proprietors,  who  formed  the  moral  support  of  the 
Church  among  the  laity  and  whose  influence  was  prodigiously  strong. 
The  wealth  of  the  Church  was  mostly  in  mortgages,  while  it  held  a 
large  amount  of  real  estate.  In  the  City  of  Mexico  and  other  places, 
the  clergy  owned  a  large  portion  of  the  real  estate  and  held  a  great 
many  mortages,  and,  to  its  credit  be  it  said,  was  not  at  all  usurious,  ex- 
acting only  a  fair  rate  of  interest  and  being  hardly  ever  oppressive  in 
dealing  with  delinquent  debtors. 

After  the  Revolution  which  effected  the  independence  of  the 
country,  the  ecclesiastical  life  began  to  cease  having  many  of  the 
attractions  it  had  before.  While  many  men  became  friars  from 
genuine  inclination  and  vocation,  not  a  few  went  into  the  religious  life 
because  it  gave  them  support  without  hard  labor,  and  because  it  was 
one  of  the  best  careers  opened  to  young  men  at  the  time. 

The  nunneries  sheltered  a  great  many  pious  women,  who  effected 
some  good  as  educators  of  the  young,  as  almoners  for  the  wealthy,  and 
as  nurses  of  the  sick.  There  were  abuses,  of  course,  but  on  the  whole 
the  religious  life  afforded  a  refuge  for  many  thousands  of  good  women 
who  felt  drawn  to  works  of  charity  and  usefulness.  Rich  young  girls 
were  often  over-persuaded  to  enter  the  convents,  by  avaricious  and 
scheming  priests,  but  such  abuses  are  common  to  all  religions.  The 
Liberal  party  thought  that  the  best  way  to  destroy  the  Church  influence 
in  Mexico  was  to  suppress  convents,  both  of  friars  and  nuns,  because  they 


ited  in  bizarre  forms,  and  in  such  small  details  of  design  and  color  as  the  potter  can 
attain,  should  see  at  Queretaro  the  work  of  Tresguerras,  architect,  sculptor,  and  pain- 
ter. Any  modern  architect,  who  is  led  away  by  straining  after  effect  in  a  grotesque 
combination  of  distinct  Greek  styles  with  mediaeval  and  early  English,  having  no  note 
of  originality  anywhere,  could  study  with  profit  the  simple  elegance — as  simple  as  the 
Old  Louvre — of  the  Bishop's  Palace  in  Queretaro,  or  the  wood-carving  in  the  church 
of  the  sequestered  Convent  of  Santa  Rosa.  In  my  remembrance  there  is  not,  on  such 
a  great  scale,  any  wood-carving  in  the  world  equal  to  it  in  freshness  and  largeness  of 
execution  and  in  beauty  of  design.  It  could  not  have  been  all  done  by  the  hand  of 
Tresguerras,  but  it  was  all  from  his  designs  and  under  his  superintendence.  Of  course, 
as  to  civic  and  ecclesiastic  architecture,  climate  and  lack  of  popular  taste  for  the  beauti- 
ful put  limits  upon  our  architectural  work,  but  it  is  worth  the  while  of  the  American 
architect  to  consider  whether  he  cannot  learn  more  from  our  sister  republic  below  the 
Tropic  of  Cancer  than  he  is  likely  to  get  from  the  well-studied  structures  of  Europe. 
In  many  petty  and  poverty-stricken  Indian  villages  are  charming  towers  and  curious 
fa£ades  which  would  be  a  most  valuable  education  in  the  principles  of  taste  to  any 
American  community." 


94  Geograpbtcal  Iftotes  on 

were  considered  a  nest  of  superstition,  and  they  thought  that  the  best 
interest  of  the  country  required  to  close  them. 

During  our  civil  wars  the  clergy  contributed  large  amounts  to  the 
support  of  the  conservative  governments,  which  it  often  established. 
It  is  thought  that  in  1853,  General  Santa  Anna  abandoned  the  Con- 
servative Government,  which  he  then  presided  over,  because  the  Arch- 
bishop of  Mexico  did  not  give  him  all  the  money  he  required  to  carry 
on  the  war  waged  against  him  by  the  Liberal  party. 

The  wealth  accumulated  by  the  Church  of  Mexico  was  used  for  the 
purpose  of  supporting  the  conservative  governments,  whose  policy  was 
to  keep  the  statu  quo,  and  was  therefore  opposed  to  progress  of  any 
kind.  The  Church  became  a  very  prominent  factor  in  politics,  and 
could  upset  and  establish  governments  at  its  pleasure,  fomenting 
the  many  revolutions  which  were  constantly  breaking  out.  It  was 
thought  necessary,  therefore,  to  destroy  the  political  power  of  the 
Church  before  we  could  establish  and  maintain  peace,  and  that  work 
was  done  by  what  we  call  our  Laws  of  Reform,  issued  in  1859,  which 
established  a  complete  independence  between  the  Church  and  the 
State,  and  were  intended  to  completely  end  the  domination  of  the 
Catholic  Church  in  civil  affairs  in  Mexico  :  the  Church  property  was 
confiscated,  so  that  even  the  houses  of  worship  are  now  the  property 
of  the  government ;  all  convents  of  friars  and  nuns  were  closed,  all 
religious  ceremonies — such  as  processions  and  wearing  a  distinctive 
dress, — were  ordered  to  be  confined  to  the  interior  of  the  edifices  ; 
the  cemeteries  were  secularized,  and  marriage  made  exclusively  a  civil 
contract.  No  religious  instruction  or  ceremony  is  allowed  in  the  public 
schools,  and  never  is  a  prayer  offered  as  a  part  of  the  program  of  a 
national  celebration.  In  an  article,  which  I  published  in  the  North 
American  Review^  of  January,  1895,  entitled  "The  Philosophy  of  the 
Mexican  Revolutions,"  I  dwelt  especially  on  this  subject,  and  to  that 
article  I  refer  the  reader  who  may  desire  more  detailed  information. 

The  Liberals  were  not  the  first  to  dispose  of  the  Church  property 
and  revenues,  as  the  Spanish  Government,  under  the  rule  of  Godoy,  in 
1805  and  1806,  to  secure  funds  to  form  a  redemption  provision  for  the 
royal  vales  or  credit  notes,  pounced  on  the  property  of  the  Church  in 
Mexico,  and  that,  later  on,  when  the  Mexicans  rose  in  their  war  for 
independence,  the  royal  authorities  took  another  part  of  the  Church's 
wealth  to  fight  the  patriots. 

The  bigoted  Catholic  element  which  used  to  be  decidely  opposed  to 
any  liberal  government  and  was  always  conspiring  to  overthrow  it,  has 
since  the  downfall  of  Maximilian,  become  satisfied  that  the  condi- 
tion of  things  has  changed  having  accordingly  changed  their  course, 
and  now  there  are  thousands  of  progressive  catholics  in  Mexico 
sincerely  devoted  to  their  Church,  who  see  only  danger  and  eventual 


•Religion,  95 

disastrous  defeat  in  the  adoption  of  a  program  of  reaction.  They  go 
with  the  times  and  support  the  administration  of  Gen.  Diaz  because, 
on  the  whole,  it  suits  them,  and  manifests  no  hostility  to  their  con- 
scientiously held  convictions.  The  pope's  influence  seems  to  be 
directed  to  assuaging  ancient  rancors,  and  to  the  calming  of  passionate 
resentments,  which  is  a  great  deal  better  for  the  Church. 

Protestantism  in  Mexico. — The  Liberal  party  proclaimed  as  an 
inherent  right  of  man,  freedom  of  conscience  and  the  free  exercise 
of  one's  religion  ;  but  the  question  was  really  only  a  theoretical 
one,  since  excepting  a  few  foreigners,  no  one  in  Mexico  had  any 
other  religion  than  the  Catholic.  The  clergy,  the  Church  party, 
and  all  strict  Mexican  catholics  were  greatly  opposed  to  the  intro- 
duction of  Protestantism,  because  protestants  were  looked  upon  as 
heretics  whose  purpose  was  to  divide  the  Mexican  people  into  dif- 
ferent sects,  disturbing  their  religious  unity,  which  they  considered  a 
source  of  national  strength,  and  ultimately  aiding  in  what  some 
Mexicans  fear  is  the  aim  of  this  country,  that  is  :  the  final  absorption  of 
Mexico.  When  the  struggles  between  the  Liberal  and  the  Church 
party  terminated  in  favor  of  the  former  in  1867,  with  the  withdrawl  of 
the  French  army  from  Mexico  and  the  downfall  of  Maximilian,  the 
time  came  to  put  into  practice  the  principles  of  the  Liberal  creed,  and 
protestant  organizations  in  the  United  States  sent  missionaries  to 
Mexico  for  the  purpose  of  establishing  and  propagating  the  protestant 
religion  there.  The  Mexican  Government  could  not  refuse  to  allow 
the  missionaries  the  free  exercise  of  the  Protestant  or  any  other  faith, 
because  that  right  was  guaranteed  to  all  men  in  our  constitution,  and 
also  because  it  has  been  a  principle  for  which  the  Liberal  party  had 
been  contending  during  many  years. 

But  we  went,  then,  further  than  allowing  the  Protestants  the  free  ex- 
ercise and  preaching  of  their  religion,  and  as  I  am  in  a  measure  respon- 
sible for  that  step,  I  think  it  proper  to  give  my  reasons  for  the  same. 
My  opinion  has  never  been  favorable  to  missionary  work,  because  al- 
though I  recognize  that  some  religions  have  higher  moral  principles  than 
others,  I  think  that  on  the  whole  they  are  all  intended  to  accomplish  the 
same  purpose,  that  all  are  good,  when  practised  in  good  faith.  It  has 
always  seemed  to  me  that  Christian  missionaries  sent  to  heathen 
countries  would  be  looked  upon  in  the  same  manner  as  would  be 
heathen  missionaries  sent  to  Christian  countries.  But  even  supposing 
that  it  should  be  proper  and  desirable  for  the  Christian  religion,  on 
account  of  its  high  morals  and  principles,  to  send  missionaries  to 
heathen  countries  for  the  purpose  of  converting  them  to  Christianity, 
that  principle  would  scaracely  hold  good  in  Christian  countries  of 
different  denominations,  and  Catholicism  is  a  Christian  religion — what- 
ever abuses  it  may  have  committed, — and  I  think  the  natural  tendency 


96  Oeoarapbical  wotes  on 

of  all  religions  when  they  are  predominant  is  to  absorb  and  misuse 
power  ;  but  that  Protestants  should  send  missionaries  to  a  Catholic 
country  seems  to  me  inconsistent.  In  principle,  therefore,  Mexico  is 
hardly  the  proper  field  for  Protestant  missionaries,  notwithstanding 
that  there  is  a  great  deal  of  room  for  improvement  there,  in  so  far  as 
religious  matters  are  concerned. 

After  having  witnessed  the  terrible  consequences  of  religious  intol- 
erance and  political  domination  of  the  Catholic  Church  in  Mexico, 
I  was  of  course  greatly  impressed  with  the  condition  of  things  existing 
in  the  United  States,  where  all  religions  are  tolerated  and  none  attempts 
to  control  the  political  destinies  of  the  country.  I  thought  that  one  of 
the  best  ways  to  diminish  the  evils  of  the  political  domination  and 
abuses  of  the  clergy  in  Mexico  was  to  favor  the  establishment  of  other 
sects,  which  would  come  in  some  measure  into  competition  with  the 
Catholic  clergy  and  thus  serve  to  cause  it  to  refrain  from  excesses 
of  which  it  had  been  guilty  before.  When,  after  having  lived  for 
ten  years  in  the  United  States,  from  1859  to  1868,  I  returned  to 
Mexico  and  took  charge  of  the  Treasury  Department  there,  just  at 
the  time  when  the  religious  question  was  being  solved,  I,  therefore, 
favored  the  establishment  of  a  Protestant  community  as  planned  by 
Mr.  Henry  C.  Riley,  since  made  a  Bishop,  a  gentleman  of  English 
parentage,  born  in  Chili,  who  had  been  educated  in  London  and  New 
York  and  was  graduated  with  high  honors  at  Columbia  College,  New 
York,  who  spoke  equally  well  English  and  Spanish,  and  eagerly  desired 
to  establish  a  Mexican  National  Church  in  competition  with  the  Roman 
Catholic,  in  which  undertaking,  I  understand,  he  used  his  own  funds. 
He  proposed  to  buy  one  of  the  finest  churches,  the  main  church  of  the 
Franciscan  convent,  which  had  been  built  by  the  Spaniards,  located  in 
the  best  section  of  the  City  of  Mexico,  and  which  could  not  now  be 
duplicated  but  for  a  very  large  amount  of  money  ;  and  with  the  hearty 
support  of  President  Juarez,  who  shared  my  views  and  who  was  perhaps 
a  great  deal  more  radical  than  I  was  myself  on  such  subjects,  I  sold 
the  building  which  had  become  national  property  after  the  confiscation 
of  the  Church  property,  for  a  mere  trifle,  if  I  remember  rightly  about 
$4000,  most  of  that  amount  being  paid  in  Government  bonds  which 
were  then  at  a  nominal  price. 

The  magnificent  building  sold  to  Dr.  Riley's  community  was  bought 
recently  by  the  Catholic  Church  to  restore  it  as  a  Catholic  temple,  for 
the  sum  of  $100,000,  as  I  understand.  My  assistance  was  rendered  to 
the  Protestant  cause  for  the  reasons  that  I  have  stated,  and  not  because 
I  had  adopted  the  Protestant  faith  ;  therefore  the  action  of  the  Mexi- 
can Government  in  the  matter  at  the  time  I  speak  of,  was  all  the  more 
praiseworthy.  Dr.  Butler  bought  about  the  same  time  another  part  of 
the  same  convent  of  San  Francisco,  where  he  established  a  Methodist 
Church  in  a  very  creditable  building. 


97 

It  is  true  that  a  great  many  Mexicans,  namely  the  Indians,  do  not 
know  much  about  religion  and  keep  to  their  old  idolatry,  having  changed 
only  their  idols,  that  is,  replaced  their  old  deities  with  the  images  of  the 
Saints  of  the  Catholic  Church,  but  it  would  be  difficult  for  the  Protest- 
ant missionaries  to  reach  them.  The  Spaniards  labored  zealously  to 
make  the  natives  adopt  the  Catholic  religion,  and  although  they  suc- 
ceeded wonderfully,  it  was  a  task  too  difficult  to  fully  accomplish  in  the 
three  centuries  of  the  Spanish  domination  in  Mexico. 

I  do  not  think  that  the  American  Protestant  missionaries  in  Mexico 
have  made  much  progress,  and  I  doubt  very  much  whether  Mexico  is 
a  good  field  for  them  ;  but  they  are  satisfied  with  their  work,  and  they 
think  that  under  the  circumstances,  they  have  made  very  good  progress. 

The  number  of  Catholic  churches  and  chapels  in  the  country  was, 
in  1889,  10,112,  while  the  number  of  Protestant  places  of  worship  was 
119.  On  August  12,  1890,  there  were  in  the  municipality  of  Mexico 
320,143  Catholics  and  2623  Protestants. 

The  American  missionaries,  and  especially  Dr.  Riley,  whom  I  con- 
sider a  very  benevolent  and  unselfish  man,  have  established  Protestant 
schools  and  asylums  for  children,  spending  considerable  money  in  main- 
taining such  institutions.  Of  course  poor  parents  were  glad  to  send 
their  children  to  the  Protestant  schools  and  asylums  when  they  could 
not  afford  to  keep  them  at  home  or  send  them  to  more  desirable  places, 
and  these  Protestant  institutions  were  of  a  very  benevolent  character 
and  worthy,  therefore,  to  be  encouraged.  Parents  in  such  cases  de- 
clared themselves  to  be  partial  to  Protestantism,  but  only  for  the  sake 
of  having  their  children  accepted  in  the  Protestant  schools  and  asylums, 
and  this  made  the  Protestants  think  they  were  making  a  great  many 
converts. 

Now  and  then  a  Catholic  priest  would  renounce  Catholicism  and 
accept  Protestantism,  and  such  occurrences  were  always  considered  as 
great  triumphs  for  the  Protestant  cause,  but  although  in  some  instances 
such  changes  have  been  made  in  good  faith,  in  others  they  were  made 
for  selfish  purposes,  and  they  never  had  any  great  weight  with  the 
community. 

I  have  no  prejudice  against  Protestantism  ;  on  the  contrary,  I  ad- 
mire greatly  many  of  its  principles,  and  in  speaking  on  this  subject  I 
consider  myself  perfectly  impartial  and  unbiassed. 

In  February,  1888,  the  Evangelical  Assembly,  representing  the  vari- 
ous Protestant  denominations  and  Evangelical  Societies  conducting 
missionary  operations  in  the  Republic  of  Mexico,  was  held  in  the  City 
of  Mexico.  They  claimed  that,  notwithstanding  the  difficulties  of 
language  and  climate  and  the  other  obstacles  with  which  they  had  to 
contend,  they  found  that  they  had  over  600  congregations,  192  foreign 
and  585  native  workers,  over  7000  in  the  day  schools,  and  about  10,000 

7 


98  (Beoarapbical  motes  on 

in  the  Sunday-schools,  18,000  communicants  and  a  Protestant  commu- 
nity of  over  60,000  souls.  Ten  small  publishing-houses  are  turning  out 
millions  of  pages  each  year,  and  their  church  property  is  valued  at 
nearly  a  million  and  a  quarter  dollars  in  silver. 

POLITICAL    ORGANIZATION. 

Mexico  was  the  largest  and  richest  American  colony  of  Spain,  and 
for  this  reason  it  was  called  New  Spain.  The  City  of  Mexico  grew 
during  the  Spanish  rule  to  be  larger  than  Madrid,  the  capital  of  the 
Spanish  Kingdom,  the  population  of  the  country  being  estimated  in 
1810,  just  before  the  independence  movement  began,  at  6,122,354- 
while  the  public  revenue  of  the  whole  colony  amounted  to  the  very 
large  sum  of  $20,000,000  yearly,  the  only  exports  of  the  country 
being  silver  and  gold,  and  commodities  of  great  value  in  small  volume 
and  weight,  such  as  cochineal,  vanilla,  indigo,  and  a  few  others. 

Mexico,  accomplished  her  independence  in  1821,  and  since  then 
has  had  two  Federal  Constitutions,  both  modelled  after  the  Constitu- 
tion of  the  United  States  ;  two  Central  Constitutions,  which  organized 
the  country  into  a  centralized  republic,  and  two  ephemeral  empires, 
one  under  Iturbide,  lasting  ten  months,  from  1822  to  1823,  and  the 
other  under  Maximilian,  established  by  French  intervention,  lasting 
from  1864  to  1867. 

Mexico  is  now  organized,  under  the  Constitution  of  the  5th  of 
February,  1857,  with  its  several  amendments,  into  a  Federal  Republic, 
composed  of  twenty-seven  states,  two  territories,  and  a  federal  district, 
and  the  political  organization  is  almost  identical  with  that  of  this 
country.  The  powers  of  the  Federal  Government  are  divided  into 
three  branches — Legislative,  Executive,  and  Judicial.  The  Legislative 
is  composed  of  a  House  of  Representatives  and  a  Senate ;  the  mem- 
bers of  the  House  are  elected  for  two  years  and  the  senators  for  four, 
the  Senate  being  renewed  by  half  every  two  years.  Representatives 
are  elected  by  the  suffrage  of  all  male  aduks,  at  the  rate  of  one  mem- 
ber for  every  40,000  inhabitants.  The  qualifications  requisite  are  to 
be  at  least  twenty-five  years  of  age  and  a  resident  of  the  State  ;  and  for 
senators  thirty  years. 

The  Executive  is  exercised  by  a  President  elected  by  the  electors 
popularly  chosen,  who  holds  his  office  for  four  years,  without  any 
provision  forbidding  his  re-election.  He  has  a  cabinet  of  seven  mem- 
bers, namely  :  Secretary  of  Foreign  Affairs,  of  the  Interior,  of  Justice 
and  Public  Instruction,  of  Fomento,  which  means  promotion  of  Pub- 
lic Improvements,  and  includes  public  lands,  patents,  and  coloniza- 
tion ;  of  Communications  and  Public  Works,  of  the  Treasury,  and 
of  War  and  Navy.  No  Vice-President  IK  elected,  but  by  an  amend- 
ment to  our  Constitution,  promulgated  April  24,  1896,  in  the  per- 


Political  ©roanisation.  99 

manent  or  temporary  disability  of  the  President,  not  caused  by 
resignation  or  by  leave,  the  Secretary  of  State,  and  after  him  the  Secre- 
tary of  the  Interior,  shall  exercise  that  office  until  Congress  elects  a 
President  pro  tempore.  In  case  of  resignation,  Congress,  accepting  it, 
elects  a  President  pro  tempore,  and  in  case  of  leave  the  President  re- 
commends to  Congress  the  person  to  fill  that  office. 

The  Federal  Judiciary  is  composed  of  a  Supreme  Court,  consisting 
of  eleven  Judges,  four  substitutes,  one  Attorney- General,  and  one  Fis- 
cal, chosen  for  six  years;  three  Circuit  and  thirty- two  District  Courts. 

The  States  are  independent  in  their  domestic  affairs,  and  their 
governments  are  similarly  divided  into  three  branches  :  the  Governor, 
the  Legislature,  and  the  State  Judiciary. 

As  we  adopted  the  federal  system  rather  to  follow  the  example  of 
the  United  States  than  to  suit  the  conditions  of  Mexico,  that  system 
did  not  work  with  us  so  easily  or  so  satisfactorily  as  it  works  here ; 
and  the  tendency  is  rather  to  centralization  and  to  the  increasing  of 
the  powers  given  by  the  Constitution  to  the  Federal  Government. .  In 
the  article  above  mentioned  published  in  the  North  American  Review, 
for  January,  1896,  entitled,  "The  Philosophy  of  the  Mexican  Revo- 
lutions," 1  I  dwelt  particularly  on  the  results  of  our  having  copied  al- 
most literally  the  political  institutions  of  the  United  States,  and  gave  a 
general  idea  of  our  political  condition. 

Political  Division. — When  the  federal  system  was  established  in 
Mexico,  in  1824,  each  of  the  old  provinces  under  the  Spanish  rule  was 
organized  as  a  State,  and  our  Constitution  of  October  4,  1824,  enumer- 
ated nineteen  States.  After  the  war  with  the  United  States  we  lost 
Texas,  New  Mexico,  and  California  ;  but  since  then  as  I  stated  in 
the  chapter  on  population  some  of  the  larger  States  have  been  divided 
into  two,  or  even  three  States,  as  was  the  case  with  the  old  State  of 
Mexico,  out  of  which  were  formed  the  three  present  States  of  Mexico, 
Hidalgo,  and  Morelos.  Our  present  Constitution,  of  February  5,  1857, 
enumerates  twenty-four  States  ;  but  we  now  have  twenty-seven. 

The  tabular  statement  published  above,  under  the  head  of  "  Popu- 
lation," shows  the  number  of  States  which  form  the  Mexican  Con- 
federation, their  area,  population,  and  capital  cities. 

Army  and  Navy. — During  our  civil  wars,  and  for  some  time  later, 
we  had  to  keep  a  very  large  standing  army,  and  our  army  acquired  re- 
cently a  very  high  degree  of  discipline  and  efficiency.  The  Liberal  party 
always  favored  the  reduction  of  the  army,  while  the  Church  party 
favored  a  large  army,  as  our  old  regular  army,  on  the  whole,  took  sides 
with  the  Church.  Soon  after  the  restoration  of  the  Republic,  in  1867, 
the  Mexican  army  consisted  of  :  Infantry,  22,964  ;  engineers,  766  ;  ar- 

1  This  article  will  appear  in  this  volume  under  the  head  of  "  Historical  Notes  on 
Mexico." 


ioo  6eo0rapbfcal  IRotes  on 

tillery,  2304  ;  cavalry,  8454  ;  rural  guards  of  police,  2365  ;  gendarmerie, 
250  ;  total,  37,103  ;  and  was  commanded  by  n  Major-Generals,  73 
Brigadier-Generals,  1041  Colonels,  Lieutenant-Colonels,  and  Majors, 
and  2335  Commissioned  Officers.  The  total  righting  strength,  including 
reserves,  is  stated  to  be  132,000  infantry,  25,000  cavalry,  and  8000 
artillery.  Every  Mexican  capable  of  carrying  arms  is  liable  for  mili- 
tary service  from  his  twentieth  to  his  fiftieth  year. 

Notwithstanding  that  General  Diaz  is  himself  a  soldier,  he  has  fol- 
lowed the  policy  of  the  Liberal  party  of  reducing  the  army  as  much  as 
possible,  and  in  his  report  of  November  30,  1896,  in  which  he  informs 
his  fellow  citizens  of  his  results  of  his  sixteen  years  administration,  he 
gives  the  following  figures,  showing  the  reduction  he  has  been  able  to 
accomplish  in  the  army  since  1888  : 

The  army  had,  in  1888,  according  to  President  Diaz's  report,  the 
following  personnel  : 

Major-Generals 16 

Brigadier-Generals 84 

Commissioned  Officers 1,205 

Non-Commissioned  Officers 2,566 

Soldiers 29,367 

Total 33,238 

In  1896  the  personnel  had  been  reduced  in  the  following  numbers  : 

Generals 24 

Commissioned  Officers 166 

Non-Commissioned  Officers 299 

Soldiers 8,170 

Total 8,659 

The  Mexican  navy  is  now  in  its  inception,  as  it  consists  of  a  fleet  of 
two  dispatch  vessels,  launched  1874,  each  of  425  tons  and  425  horse- 
power, and  severally  armed  with  a  four-ton  muzzle-loading  gun,  and 
four  small  breech-loaders.  A  steel  training  ship,  the  Zaragoza,  of 
1 200  tons,  was  built  at  Havre,  in  1891  ;  four  gun-boats  are  building, 
and  a  battle-ship  and  cruiser  are  projected  ;  five  first-class  torpedo- 
boats  have  been  ordered  in  England.  The  fleet  is  manned  by  ninety 
officers  and  five  hundred  men. 

EDUCATION. 

In  1521,  the  City  of  Mexico  fell  into  the  hands  of  the  conquering 
Spaniards,  and  exactly  eight  years  after  that  event  there  was  established 
in  the  City  of  Mexico  the  College  of  San  Juan  de  Letran,  for  giving 
secondary  education  to  intelligent  Indians  as  well  as  to  the  sons  of  the 


jEfcucation,  101 

invading  race.  Thus,  ninety  years  before  the  landing  of  the  Pilgrims, 
the  City  of  Mexico  had  its  "  Harvard." 

Universities  Established  by  the  Spanish  Government. — The  first  vice- 
roy of  New  Spain,  as  Mexico  was  called  then,  fourteen  years  after 
the  conquest,  petitioned  the  King  of  Spain  to  permit  him  to  found 
a  university  in  Mexico,  and,  anticipating  from  his  knowledge  of  the 
good-will  of  the  Spanish-rulers  that  the  desired  permission  would 
be  given,  the  viceroy  took  the  responsibility  of  establishing  certain 
classes  in  the  higher  learning,  a  fact  which  does  not  support  the 
commonly  held  theory  that  Spain  has  always  been  the  enemy  of  edu- 
cation and  of  popular  enlightenment.  Owing  to  the  slow  means  of 
communication  in  those  days,  and  the  legal  steps  necessary  to  be 
taken  in  the  mother  country,  the  university  was  not  formally  established 
until  1553,  or  eighty-three  years  before  Harvard  College  was  opened. 
The  great  event  of  setting  on  foot  the  university  came  under  the 
enlightened  rule  of  the  second  viceroy,  Don  Luis  de  Velasco,  who 
did  so  many  great  things  for  Spain's  new  dependency. 

Later  on,  in  1573,  there  were  founded  in  Mexico  the  colleges  of 
San  Gregorio  and  San  Ildefonso,  the  latter  still  open,  but  modernized 
into  the  national  preparatory  school,  a  really  great  institution  in  that 
city  of  many  schools.  A  few  years  later,  long  before  the  i;th  century 
had  dawned,  came  the  founding  of  two  more  colleges  and  a  divinity 
school,  so  that  in  the  first  sixty-five  years  of  Spain's  control  in  Mexico 
no  less  than  seven  seats  of  the  higher  learning  had  been  established  on 
secure  foundations. 

No  wonder  that  Mexico's  capital  became  known  as  the  Athens  of 
the  new  world,  producing  men  of  great  learning,  such  as  Don  Juan 
Ruiz  de  Alarcon  and  such  notably  erudite  women  as  Juana  Inez  de  la 
Cruz.  The  extensive  library  of  "  Americana,"  belonging  to  Don  Jose  de 
Agreda,  of  that  city,  containing  over  4000  books,  many  of  them  invalu- 
able, attests  the  literary,  antiquarian,  scientific  and  artistic  activity  of 
the  Spaniards  who  planted  there  in  a  short  space  of  time  so  much  of 
learning  and  such  vast  institutions  dedicated  to  the  instruction  in  all 
the  higher  branches  of  knowledge. 

At  the  outset  the  University  of  Mexico  gave  instruction  only  in 
mathematics,  Latin  and  the  arts.  Medicine  and  surgery  were  not 
esteemed  highly  during  the  middle  ages,  and  it  was  not  until  long  after 
the  revival  of  learning  in  the  Renaissance  that  the  physician  came  to 
be  considered  as  a  true  man  of  science.  So  it  is  not  to  be  marvelled 
at  that  the  University  of  Mexico  waited  until  1578  to  establish  a  chair 
of  medicine — the  first  in  the  new  world  discovered  by  Columbus.  The 
first  chair  of  medicine  was  a  morning  class,  and  a  single  professor 
carried  his  students  through  a  four  years'  course  unaided.  In  1599,  a 
second  medical  professorship  was  added  ;  in  1661,  anatomy  and  surgery 


102  Geocjrapbtcal  iRotes  on 

were  added,  and,  consequently  dissection  was  authorized.  At  the 
outset  the  viceroys  appointed  the  professors,  but  after  a  time  the 
candidates  for  chairs  had  to  win  the  coveted  prizes  through  competitive 
examinations. 

The  early  students  were  not  railroaded  through.  They  had  to  study 
four  years  to  obtain  the  diploma  of  a  bachelor  of  medicine  ;  then 
went  out  into  active  life,  and,  on  gaining  practical  knowledge,  received, 
passing  a  fresh  examination,  the  diploma  of  licentiate  of  medicine,  and, 
later,  that  of  doctor  of  medicine. 

School  of  Medicine. — In  1768  a  decree  was  issued  for  the  establish- 
ment in  the  City  of  Mexico  of  a  royal  college  for  surgeons,  similar  to 
institutions  in  Cadiz  and  Barcelona.  This  college  was  a  very  com- 
plete one,  instruction  being  given  in  anatomy  and  dissection,  in 
physiology,  operations,  clinical  surgery,  and  medical  jurisprudence. 
There  were  graduated  also  from  the  college  all  the  dentists,  bone- 
setters,  phlebotomists,  and  midwives.  A  knowledge  of  Latin  was  not 
essential  to  receive  a  medical  degree  until  1803. 

In  1821,  Mexico  having  achieved  her  independence,  the  same  care- 
ful watch  over  education  continued,  and  in  1833  a  general  revision  of 
educational  institutions  was  ordered  under  the  administration  of  Don 
Valentin  Gomez  Farias  a  leader  of  the  Liberal  party  and  the  univer- 
sity was  closed,  because  it  was  considered  to  have  conservative  tend- 
encies, and  a  general  board  of  education  organized,  which,  among  other 
things  established  what  was  called  the  School  of  Medical  Science,  with 
ten  professors,  giving  a  remarkably  complete  and  modern  course.  On 
account  of  a  revolution  which  occurred  in  1834  which  overthrew  the 
Gomez  Farias  Government,  the  new  school  of  medicine  was  closed, 
and  the  old  university  reopened  ;  but,  as  the  officials  of  the  university, 
on  making  a  careful  study  of  the  conditons  of  the  new  school  of 
medicine  rendered  an  impartial  report,  setting  forth  its  manifold  ad- 
vantages it  was  decided  to  keep  open  the  institution. 

The  incessant  revolutions  and  consequent  changes  of  government 
brought  many  evil  things  to  pass,  and  the  medical  professors  at  times 
found  themselves  without  salaries,  and  nobly  devoted  themselves  to 
their  classes  without  remuneration.  They  at  one  time  were  deprived 
of  their  building  and  literally  thrown  into  the  street.  Better  times 
came,  however,  the  successive  governments  began  to  give  substantial 
aid  to  the  school,  and  in  1845  ^  to°k  the  name  it  still  bears,  the 
National  School  of  Medicine.  After  more  vicissitudes,  many  movings 
and  trials  which  bore  hard  on  the  enthusiastic  professors,  the  National 
School  of  Medicine  finally  was  located  where  it  now  remains,  in  a 
part  of  the  enormous  edifice  belonging  formerly  to  the  Inquisition. 

In  the  chaos  of  succeeding  revolutions  the  salaries  of  the  professors 
were  often  unpaid,  but  the  devoted  men  of  science  struggled  on, 


lEfcucatfon*  103 

assisted  by  wealthier  students  and  contributing  often  out  of  their  own 
slender  means  to  keep  the  school  alive  ;  but,  in  1857,  a  better  era 
commenced,  and  not  since  then,  with  rare  exceptions,  have  there  been 
any  interruptions  in  financial  aid  from  the  various  governments.  All 
the  other  institutions  of  learning  suffered  the  same  fate  and  were  ex- 
posed to  similar  ups  and  downs. 

School  of  Engineering. — Our  mining  college  is  the  best  in  Spanish 
America,  and  it  was  established  when  engineering  was  hardly  taught, 
and  endowed  by  a  portion  of  the  taxes  levied  by  the  Spanish  Govern- 
ment on  mines.  Its  edifice  is  one  of  the  best  built  by  the  Spaniards 
in  their  colonies,  and  still  stands  as  a  great  monument,  embellishing 
the  City  of  Mexico. 

The  above  given  facts  will  show  how  early  did  Mexico  open 
great  schools  for  the  higher  education,  and  how  solicitous  was  the 
Spanish  government  to  maintain  them.  But,  three  centuries  of  devo- 
tion to  learning,  antedating  the  war  for  independence,  planted  there 
firmly  a  love  of  knowledge  which  is  now  exhibited  in  the  great 
government  schools,  in  a  city  full  of  students,  in  innumerable  pri- 
vate schools,  in  the  well-filled  public  primary  institutions,  in  night 
schools  for  adults,  and  in  the  thirty-five  bookstores  of  that  city. 

Mexican  Technical  Schools  in  the  Present  Time. — The  edifice  of 
the  first  University  in  America,  founded  by  the  Spanish  crown  in 
1551,  is  to-day  occupied  by  the  National  Conservatory  of  Music. 
The  National  Academy  of  Art,  ancient  Academy  of  San  Carlos, 
stands  where  Fray  Pedro  de  Gante  founded,  in  1524,  the  first  school 
of  the  New  World — a  school  for  Indians.  The  Normal  School  for 
males,  with  its  six  hundred  pupils  and  its  first-class  German  equip- 
ment, occupies  the  old  convent  of  Santa  Teresa,  (1678).  The  Normal 
School  for  females  has  fourteen  hundred  pupils,  an  expensive  building 
of  1648.  The  fine  old  Jesuit  College  of  San  Ildefonso,  erected  in  1749 
at  a  cost  of  $400,000  is  now  filled  with  a  thousand  pupils  of  the 
National  Preparatory  School.  The  National  College  of  Medicine  is 
housed  in  the  old  home  of  the  Inquisition  (1732),  an  edifice  whose  four 
hanging  arches  at  each  corner  of  the  lower  corridor  are  famous.  The 
building  was  taken  for  its  present  purpose  in  this  century,  the  Holy 
Office  dying  in  America  with  the  Independence,  but  the  medical  col- 
lege was  established  by  royal  decree  of  1768.  It  has  now  several 
hundred  pupils.  San  Lorenzo  (1598)  is  now  the  manual  training- 
school  where  poor  boys  are  gratuitously  taught  lithography,  engrav- 
ing, printing,  carpentry,  and  many  other  trades.  The  similar  institution 
for  girls  is  of  course  modern,  dating  only  from  1874.  The  National 
Library,  with  its  200,000  volumes,  dwells  in  the  splendid  sequestered 
Church  of  San  Agustin.  The  National  Museum  occupies  part  of  the 
million-dollar  building  erected  in  1731  for  the  royal  mint.  And  so  on 


io4  6eo0rapbical  motes  on  flDejico. 

through  a  list  that  would  rival  that  of  any  other  country.  The  School 
of  Mines  and  Engineering,  however,  stands  as  one  of  the  first.  Its 
magnificent  building  of  Chiluca,  the  nearest  to  granite  the  valley  affords, 
was  built  for  it  by  Tolsa  in  1793,  and  cost  three  millions.  The  institu- 
tion named  the  Colegio  de  la  Paz,  better  known  as  the  Vizcainas  is  one 
of  the  principal  establishments  for  the  education  of  young  women, 
founded  in  1734,  at  a  cost  for  construction  alone  of  about  $2,000,000, 
subscribed  by  three  Spanish  merchants,  who  also  provided  funds  for 
its  support.  These  funds,  when  insufficient  to  meet  expenses,  are  sup- 
plemented by  the  Federal  Government.  We  have  also  a  very  high 
grade  Military  School  located  at  the  historical  grounds  of  Chapulte- 
pec,  which  educates  fine  soldiers. 

As  late  as  1824  Humboldt  declared,  "  No  city  of  the  New  Con- 
tinent, not  excepting  those  of  the  United  States,  presents  scientific 
establishments  so  great  and  solid  as  those  of  the  capital  of  Mexico.'* 
Except  as  to  the  buildings,  of  course,  so  much  could  not  be  said  to- 
day, as  wealth  and  numbers  have  made  other  countries  take  more 
rapid  strides  in  higher  education.  Some  of  the  universities  of  the 
United  States  pay  even  $10,000  a  year  to  professors  and  they  there- 
fore can  secure  the  best  talent. 

From  the  time  of  the  Spanish  domination  in  Mexico  to  but  a  few 
years  ago,  the  Mexican  Government  considered  itself  bound  to  give  to 
the  people  free  secondary  education,  and  for  this  purpose  colleges  for 
all  literary  and  scientific  professions  were  established  in  the  City  of 
Mexico,  and  each  State  did  the  same  in  its  respective  capital,  in  so 
far  as  its  means  allowed  it,  so  that  anybody  who  intended  to  follow  a 
scientific  career  could  do  so  without  any  expense  to  himself. 

The  result  of  the  free  technical  schools  has  been  that  most  of  the 
young  men  of  well-to-do  families  in  Mexico  follow  a  literary  career 
and  that  does  not  cost  them  anything,  and  we  have  more  lawyers, 
doctors,  engineers  than  we  really  need  for  the  country. 

Reorganization  of  the  Technical  Colleges. — We  had  before  1868  sev- 
eral higher  colleges  and  in  each  of  them  the  same  careers  were  taught, 
as  law,  medicine,  engineering,  etc.,  but  in  the  reorganization  of  our 
national  colleges  which  took  place  in  that  year,  it  was  thought  proper 
to  establish  a  special  college  for  each  career,  and  a  preparatory  col- 
lege for  such  elementary  studies  as  would  be  required  for  all  careers, 
such  as  elementary  mathematics,  physics,  chemistry,  etc.,  etc.,  so  that 
we  now  have  in  the  City  of  Mexico,  supported  by  the  Federal  Govern- 
ment a  special  school  for  engineering,  one  for  law,  one  for  medicine, 
another  for  agriculture,  etc.,  etc.,  but  each  State  generally  supports 
one  technical  college  where  all  literary  careers  are  taught. 

Primary  Education. — Comparatively  little  attention  was  paid  to  the 
primary  education,  and  the  public  schools  were  so  deficient  that 


105 

parents  of  some  means  did  not  send  their  children  to  them,  but  to 
private  schools  where  they  were  better  attended  to.  The  fact  that  the 
elevation  of  the  people  depends  on  their  primary  education  has  caused 
common  schools  to  be  established  in  the  country,  and  now  the  States 
vie  with  each  other  for  the  purpose  of  establishing  the  best  system  of 
common  schools  and  increasing  their  number. 

The  Mexican  Government  has  been  too  much  disturbed  since  its 
independence  to  earnestly  promote  the  education  of  the  Indians.  I 
consider  that  one  of  the  first  duties  of  Mexico  is  to  educate  the  large 
number  of  Indians  which  we  have,  and  when  that  is  accomplished  the 
whole  condition  of  the  country  will  change,  as  it  will  be  able  in  a  few 
years  to  increase  by  several  millions  its  productive  and  consuming 
population. 

In  1896  the  Federal  Congress  of  Mexico  passed  a  law  which  was 
promulgated  on  June  3d  of  that  year,  making  primary  education  obliga- 
tory on  all  the  inhabitants  of  the  Federal  District  and  Territories,  and 
placing  public  education  under  the  control  of  the  Federal  Government, 
having  been  before  under  the  respective  municipalities. 

In  almost  all  the  States  education  is  free  and  compulsory,  but  the  law 
has  not  been  strictly  enforced.  Primary  instruction  is  mostly  at  the  ex- 
pense of  the  municipalities,  but  the  Federal  Government  makes  frequent 
grants,  and  many  schools  are  under  the  care  of  the  beneficent  societies. 

School  Statistics. — Statistical  reports  on  public  instruction  for  1876 
showed  an  aggregate  of  8165  primary  schools,  with  an  attendance  of 
368,754  children  of  both  sexes  throughout  the  Republic.  Reports  for 
1895  show  a  total  number  of  public  schools  for  both  sexes  through- 
out the  Republic  amounting  to  10,915,  in  which  are  instructed  722,435 
scholars,  at  an  aggregate  cost  of  $5,455,549-6o.  The  proportion  of 
children  of  both  sexes  attending  the  school  is,  with  respect  to  the 
general  population,  nearly  five  per  cent.,  and  that  of  the  children  of 
school  age,  actually  attending  school  about  27  per  cent,  with  an  aver- 
age yearly  outlay  per  capita  of  $7.55.  The  entire  number  of  private 
schools  for  both  sexes,  including  those  supported  by  religious  and  civil 
associations,  is  2585,  with  a  total  attendance  of  81,221.  Adding  these 
to  the  preceding  figures  we  have  an  aggregate  of  13,500  schools  with 
an  attendance  of  803,656  scholars.  The  number  of  schools  in  the 
country  for  professional  technical  education  is  136,  attended  by  16,809 
pupils  of  both  sexes. 

In  the  Federal  District  there  are  454  public  primary  schools  with 
an  attendance  of  44,776  pupils,  and  247  private  schools  with  an  attend- 
ance of  19,334  pupils.  In  the  matter  of  education  Mexico  now  stands 
upon  a  plane  as  high,  if  not  higher,  than  any  of  the  Spanish  American 
Republics,  out-ranking  even  Chili  and  the  Argentine  Republic,  both 
of  which  greatly  surpassed  her  in  former  years. 


io6  Geoarapbical  IRotes  on  /IDejico. 

The  statistical  part  of  this  paper  will  contain  detailed  information 
about  the  number  of  schools  established  in  each  State,  their  cost,  etc., 
during  the  year  1895,  which  complements  the  information  embraced 
in  this  chapter. 

Libraries. — Many  great  and  noteworthy  public  and  private  libraries 
attest  the  ineradicable  love  of  learning  characteristic  of  the  Mexican 
people.  In  1894  there  were  in  the  Republic  the  National  Library,  with 
200,000  volumes,  and  102  other  public  libraries.  There  were  in  that 
year  22  museums  for  scientific  and  educational  purposes,  and  3  meteo- 
rological observatories.  Our  National  Library  at  the  City  of  Mexico 
collected  all  the  books  possessed  by  the  libraries  of  the  different  con- 
vents when  they  were  suppressed  by  the  National  Government,  and 
has  therefore  a  very  large  number  of  rare  and  valuable  books. 

Newspapers. — The  number  of  newspapers  published  was  363,  of 
which  94  are  published  in  the  capital :  4  in  English,  2  in  French,  and  i 
in  German,  showing  that  the  Press  has  not  attained  there  the  great  de- 
velopment that  it  has  in  this  country. 

THE    VALLEY    OF   MEXICO. 

The  Valley  of  Mexico  is  one  of  the  finest  spots  in  the  world.  Sur- 
rounded by  high  mountains — almost  at  the  foot  of  the  two  highest  in 
the  country,  Popocatepetl  and  Ixtaccihuatl — with  a  very  rare  and  clear 
atmosphere  and  a  beautiful  blue  sky,  especially  after  a  rain  ;  it  is  really 
a  centre  of  magnificent  scenery.  The  rareness  of  the  atmosphere 
makes  distant  objects  appear  to  be  very  near,  and  when  looking  from 
the  City  of  Mexico  at  the  mountains  which  surround  the  Valley,  one 
imagines  that  they  are  at  the  end  of  the  City,  while  some  of  them  are 
at  a  distance  of  forty  miles.  The  view  of  the  Valley  from  Chapultepec 
Hill,  which  is  about  one  hundred  and  fifty  feet  high  and  distant  about 
three  miles  from  the  City,  towards  its  western  extremity,  where  our 
military  school  now  is  and  where  the  President  has  made  his  summer 
residence,  is  one  of  the  most  beautiful  with  which  the  earth  is  endowed. 
I  have  seen  the  Bosphorus,  Constantinople,  the  Bay  of  Naples  and  other 
spots  in  the  world  which  are  considered  to  be  most  remarkable  for  their 
natural  beauty,  but  T  think  the  view  of  the  Valley  of  Mexico  from 
Chapultepec  can  be  advantageously  compared  with  any  of  them,  if  it 
does  not  excel  them  all. 

Six  lakes  are  within  the  limits  of  the  Valley, — Chalco,  Zochimilco, 
Texcoco,  Xaltocan,  San  Cristobal,  and  Zupango,  the  two  former  being 
of  fresh  water  and  the  others  of  salt  water — and,  as  they  have  no 
natural  outlet  the  City  of  Mexico  has  been  deprived  for  some  time  of 
a  proper  drainage  and  its  health  has  been  affected  very  materially 
thereby.  But  the  colossal  undertaking  of  making  an  artificial  outlet  is 


ttbe  Cit^  of  Aegfco.  107 

now  practically  finished.  In  an  article  which  I  published  in  the 
Engineering  Magazine  in  January,  1895,  I  dwelt  especially  on  the  work 
done  during  four  centuries  to  accomplish  that  great  end.1 

The  prevailing  wind  in  the  Valley  of  Mexico  is  northwest  and 
north-northwest,  which  blew  250  times  during  the  year  1883  ;  while 
the  southern  winds,  which  are  very  dry,  are  rare,  as  they  only  blew  5 1 
times  in  that  year  ;  but  at  the  same  time  they  have  greater  velocity 
than  the  others,  and  the  greatest  relative  velocity  of  the  winds  is  3.0. 
The  west  and  northwest  winds  are  very  damp. 

At  the  present  stage  of  industrial  development,  speaking  especially 
of  the  Valley  of  Mexico,  the  question  of  a  cheaper  combustible  is  the 
one  of  supreme  importance.  In  the  absence  of  water-power  of  im- 
portance and  permanence  of  volume,  the  only  solution  of  the  problem 
so  vital  to  the  growth  of  manufactures  there  lies  in  procuring  abundant 
and  cheap  fuel. 

THE    CITY    OF    MEXICO. 

The  City  of  Mexico,  located  in  the  western  end  of  the  valley,  on 
the  Anahuac  plateau,  at  an  altitude  of  7350  feet  above  the  sea  level  in 
19°  26'  north  latitude  and  99°  07'  53*  .4  longitude  west  of  Greenwich, 
covering  about  twenty  square  miles,  is  one  of  the  most  ancient  cities 
of  this  continent,  was  the  capital  of  the  Aztec  Empire,  of  the  Spanish 
Colony  of  New  Spain  and  now  of  the  Mexican  Republic,  and  of  the 
Federal  District  of  Mexico. 

Mexico  dates  either  from  the  year  1325  or  1327,  when  the  Aztecs, 
after  long  wanderings  over  the  plateau  were  directed  by  the  oracle  to 
settle  at  this  spot.  For  here  had  been  witnessed  the  auspicious  omen 
of  an  eagle  perched  on  a  nopal  (cactus)  and  devouring  a  snake.  Hence 
the  original  name  of  the  city,  Tenochtitlan  (cactus  on  a  stone),  changed 
afterwards  to  Mexico  in  honor  of  the  war  god  Mexitli.  The  eagle 
holding  a  snake  in  her  beak  and  standing  on  a  cactus  upon  a  stone,  is 
the  coat-of-arms  of  the  Mexican  Republic.  With  the  progress  of  the 
Aztec  culture  the  place  rapidly  improved,  and  about  1450  the  old  mud 
and  rush  houses  were  replaced  by  solid  stone  structures,  erected  partly 
on  piles  amid  the  islets  of  Lake  Texcoco,  and  grouped  around  the  cen- 
tral enclosure  of  the  great  teocalli.  The  city  had  reached  its  highest 
splendor  on  the  arrival  of  the  Spaniards  in  1519,  when  it  comprised 
from  50,000  to  60,000  houses,  with  perhaps  500,000  inhabitants,  and 
seemed  to  Cortes,  according  to  Prescott's,  "  like  a  thing  of  fairy  crea- 
tion rather  than  the  work  of  mortal  hands."  It  was  at  that  time 
about  T2  miles  in  circumference,  everywhere  intersected  by  canals, 
and  connected  with  the  mainland  by  six  long  and  solidly  constructed 
causeways,  as  is  clearly  shown  by  the  plan  given  in  the  edition  of 

1  That  article  is  appended  to  this  paper. 


io8  <3eoarapbfcal  motes  on 

Cortes's  letters  published  at  Nuremberg  in  15  24.'  After  its  almost 
destruction  in  November,  1521,  Cortes  employed  some  400,000  natives 
in  rebuilding  it  on  the  same  site ;  but  since  then  the  lake  seems  to 
have  considerably  subsided,  for  although  still  50  square  miles  in  extent, 
it  is  very  shallow  and  has  retired  two  and  a  half  miles  from  the  city. 

During  the  Spanish  rule  the  chief  event  was  the  revolt  in  1692^ 
when  the  municipal  buildings  were  destroyed.  Since  then  Mexico  has 
been  the  scene  of  many  revolutions,  was  captured  by  the  United  States 
Army  after  the  battle  of  Chapultepec,  on  September  13,  1847,  and  by 
the  French  Army  under  Marshall  Forey  in  1863.  But  since  the  over- 
throw of  Maximilian,  and  the  French  Intervention  in  1867,  peace  has 
been  established  and  it  has  become  a  great  centre  of  civilizing  in- 
fluences for  the  surrounding  peoples. 

The  City  of  Mexico  is  263  miles  by  rail  from  Veracruz  on  the 
Atlantic,  290  from  Acapulco  on  the  Pacific,  285  from  Oaxaca,  863 
from  Matamoros  on  the  frontier  with  the  United  States,  and  1224  miles 
from  El  Paso.  Mexico  is  the  largest  and  finest  city  in  Spanish  America, 
and  at  one  time  larger  than  Madrid,  the  capital  of  Spain,  forming  a 
square  of  nearly  3  miles  both  ways,  and  laid  out  with  perfect  regu- 
larity, all  its  six  hundred  streets  and  lanes  running  at  right  angles 
north  to  south  and  east  to  west,  and  covering  within  the  walls  an  area 
of  about  ten  square  miles,  with  a  population  now  of  539,935. 

The  present  City  of  Mexico  is  almost  twice  as  large  as  the  old  one,  it 
having  increased  towards  the  northwest,  and,  strange  to  say,  the  new 
portion  is  not  laid  out  as  regularly  as  the  old  one.  All  the  main 
thoroughfares  converge  on  the  central  Plaza  de  Armas,  or  Main 
Square,  which  covers  14  acres,  and  is  tastefully  laid  out  with  shady 
trees,  garden  plots,  marble  fountains,  and  seats.  Here  also  are  grouped 
most  of  the  public  buildings,  towering  above  which  is  the  Cathedral, 
the  largest  and  most  sumptuous  church  in  America,  which  stands  on 
the  north  side  of  the  plaza  on  the  site  of  the  great  pyramidal  teocalli 
or  temple  of  Huitzilopochtli,  titular  god  of  the  Aztecs.  This  church, 
which  was  founded  in  1573  and  finished  in  1657,  at  a  cost  of  $2,000,- 
ooo,  for  the  walls  alone,  forms  a  Greek  cross,  426  feet  long  and  203  feet 
wide,  with  two  great  naves  and  three  aisles,  twenty  side  chapels,  and  a 
magnificent  high  altar  supported  by  marble  columns,  and  surrounded 
by  a  tumbago  balustrade  with  sixty-two  statues  of  the  same  rich  gold, 
silver,  and  copper  alloy  serving  as  candelabra.  The  elaborately  carved 
choir  was  also  enclosed  by  tumbago  railings  made  in  Macao,  weighing 
twenty-six  tons,  and  valued  at  about  $1,500,000.  In  the  interior,  the 
Doric  style  prevails,  and  Renaissance  in  the  exterior,  which  is  adorned 
by  five  domes  and  two  open  towers  218  feet  high.  At  the  foot  of  the 

1  Reproduced  in  vol.  iv.  of  H.  H.  Bancroft's  History  of  the  Pacific  States,  San- 
Francisco,  1833,  p.  280. 


Ube  Cft^  of  jfl&esiox  109 

left  tower  was  placed  the  famous  calendar  stone,  the  most  interesting 
relic  of  Aztec  culture,  which  is  now  at  the  National  Museum. 

The  east  side  of  the  plaza,  is  occupied  by  the  old  vice-regal  resi- 
dence, now  the  National  Palace,  with  675  feet  frontage,  containing 
most  of  the  Government  offices,  ministerial,  cabinet,  treasury,  military 
headquarters,  archives,  meteorological  department  with  observatory, 
and  the  spacious  halls  of  ambassadors,  with  some  remarkable  paintings 
by  Miranda  and  native  artists.  North  of  the  National  Palace,  and 
forming  portions  of  it,  are  the  post-office  and  the  national  museum  of 
natural  history  and  antiquities,  with  a  priceless  collection  of  Mexican 
relics. 

Close  to  the  cathedral  stands  the  Monte  de  Piedad,  or  national 
pawnshop,  a  useful  institution,  endowed  in  1744  by  Don  Manuel 
Romero  de  Terreros  with  $375,000,  and  now  possessing  nearly  $10,- 
000,000  of  accumulated  funds.  Facing  the  cathedral  is  the  Palacio 
Municipal,  or  City  Hall,  252  feet  by  122,  rebuilt  in  1792  at  a  cost  of 
$150,000,  and  containing  the  city  and  district  offices,  and  the  mer- 
chant's exchange. 

Around  the  Plaza  San  Domingo  were  grouped  the  convent  of  that 
name,  which  contained  vast  treasures  buried  within  its  walls,  the  old 
inquisition,  now  the  school  of  medicine,  and  for  some  time  the  Custom 
House,  which  has  now  been  removed  to  the  city  boundary.  In  the 
same  neighborhood  are  the  Church  of  the  Jesuits  and  the  School  of 
Arts,  which  is,  in  the  language  of  Brocklehurst,  "  an  immense  work- 
shop, including  iron  and  brass  foundries,  carriage  and  cart  mending, 
building  and  masonry,  various  branches  of  joinery  and  upholstery 
work,  and  silk  and  cotton  hand-weaving." 

Other  noteworthy  buildings  are  the  national  picture  gallery  of  San 
Carlos,  the  finest  in  America,  in  which  the  Florentine  and  Flemish 
schools  are  well  represented,  and  which  contains  the  famous  Las  Casas, 
by  Felix  Parra  ;  the  national  library  of  St.  Augustine,  with  over  200- 
ooo  volumes,  numerous  MSS.,  and  many  rare  old  Spanish  books  ;  the 
mint,1  which  since  1690  has  issued  coinage,  chiefly  silver,  to  the  amount 
of  nearly  $3,000,000,000  ;  the  Iturbide  Hotel,  formerly  the  residence  of 
the  Emperor  Iturbide  ;  the  Mineria,  or  schools  of  mines,  with  lecture- 
rooms,  laboratories,  rich  mineralogical  and  geological  specimens,  and 
a  fossil  horse,  three  feet  high,  of  the  Pleistocene  period. 

1  The  Spanish  Government  intended  during  last  century  to  build  a  spacious, 
costly,  and  magnificent  mint  in  the  City  of  Mexico,  and  its  plans  and  specifications 
were  approved  by  the  king,  but  by  a  mistake  of  the  clerks  in  Madrid,  they  were 
forwarded  to  Santiago,  Chili,  instead  of  being  sent  to  the  City  of  Mexico,  and  it  was  in 
consequence  built  there.  The  building  was  so  fine  that,  not  having  any  mint  at 
Santiago,  it  was  used  as  the  Government  House,  and  it  is  now  the  Executive  Mansion 
.and  Departments,  and  it  is  called  "  La  Moneda,"  an  abbreviation  of  "La  Casa  de 
Moneda,"  which  is  the  Spanish  name  for  mint. 


no  6eo0rapbfcal  IRotes  on  /iDejico, 

Among  the  twenty  scientific  institutes,  mention  should  be  made  of 
the  Geographical  and  Statistical  Society,  whose  meteorological  depart- 
ment issues  charts  and  maps  of  unsurpassed  excellence. 

Owing  to  the  spongy  nature  of  the  soil,  the  Mineria  and  many 
other  structures  have  settled  out  of  the  perpendicular,  thus  often  pre- 
senting irregular  lines  and  a  rickety  appearance. 

Before  1860  half  of  the  city  consisted  of  churches,  convents,  and 
other  ecclesiastical  structures,  most  of  which  have  been  sequestrated 
and  converted  into  libraries,  stores,  warehouses,  hotels,  and  even 
stables,  or  pulled  down  for  civic  improvements.  Nevertheless  there 
still  remain  fourteen  parish  and  thirty  other  churches,  some  of  large 
size,  with  towers  and  domes.  San  Francisco  Street  is  the  leading 
thoroughfare,  and  is  rivalled  in  splendor  only  by  the  new  Cinco  de 
Mayo  Street,  running  from  the  National  Theatre  to  the  cathedral. 

It  would  take  a  great  deal  more  space  than  it  is  convenient  to  give 
in  this  paper,  should  I  attempt  to  make  a  longer  description  of  the  City 
of  Mexico  which,  being  one  of  the  oldest  on  this  continent  and  the 
largest  and  principal  one  during  the  three  centuries  of  the  Spanish 
rule,  it  has  quite  a  number  of  remarkable  buildings  and  monuments 
and  a  very  important  history,  a  great  deal  of  romance  being  connected 
with  it. 

The  City  of  Mexico  is  not  only  the  capital  of  the  country,  but  the 
real  head  of  the  Republic  ;  and  the  aim  of  all  other  Mexican  cities  is 
to  follow  in  its  footsteps  and  imitate  as  much  as  possible  the  City  of 
Mexico,  which  to  them  is  a  beau  ideal  and  a  real  paradise. 

The  City  of  Mexico  is  now  literally  encircled  with  a  belt  of  fac- 
tories— cotton,  paper,  linen,  etc.,  packing  houses,  brick  works,  cork 
factories,  soap  works,  etc.,  and  cheaper  fuel  will  add  largely  to  their 
number.  They  have  been  able  to  show  profits  under  the  load  of  a  dear 
combustible,  and  they  will  welcome  the  introduction  of  any  fuel,  which 
will  enable  them  to  work  even  more  successfully. 

Climate. — From  the  official  reports  of  Professor  Mariano  Barcena, 
Director  of  the  National  Meteorological  Observatory  of  the  City  of 
Mexico,  of  the  weather  conditions  in  1895,  it  appears  that  there  were 
121  cloudy  days.  But  the  rains  were  mostly  at  night  or  late  in  the 
afternoon,  of  short  duration,  and  immediately  succeeded  by  sunshine 
showers.  Long  periods  of  rainy  weather  are  unknown  there.  The 
total  rainfall  for  the  year,  less  than  twenty  inches,  will  convey  a  fair 
idea  of  the  dryness  of  the  climate.  The  mean  temperature  in  the  shade 
for  1895  was  60  degrees,  the  highest  being  65,  reached  in  April,  and 
the  lowest  53,  in  January,  a  temperature  rather  which  avoids  both 
extremities.  The  mean  temperature  for  the  summer  months  were  : 
June,  64  degrees  ;  July,  62  ;  August,  62  ;  September,  61. 

The  table  on  page  112,  prepared  by  the  Weather  Bureau  of  the  City 


Ube  City  of  /IDejico.  m 

of  Mexico,  contains  the  average  annual  climatological  data  of  that  city 
from  the  years  1877  to  1895. 

More  detailed  data  about  the  climatological  conditions  of  the  City 
of  Mexico  during  the  year  1896,  prepared  also  by  our  Weather  Bureau, 
is  appended  on  page  113. 

Mortality  in  the  City  of  Mexico. — During  the  year  1896  the  total 
mortality  in  the  City  of  Mexico,  under  a  recorded  population  of  330,698, 
was  15,567,  not  including  1275  still-births,  equivalent  to  4.70  percent. 
The  principal  diseases  which  caused  that  mortality  were  those  affecting 

1   A  BRIEF  HISTORICAL   SKETCH   OF  THE  METEOROLOGY   IN   THE   MEXICAN    REPUBLIC. 

Priest  Jose  Antonio  Alzate  stands  in  the  first  place  among  those  who  have  culti- 
vated the  meteorological  science  in  our  country,  being  he  who  first  devoted  himself  to 
its  study,  and  made  regular  observations  during  more  than  eight  years,  as  he  himself 
says  in  his  De scripdon  topogrdfica  de  Mexico  (1738  to  1799).  Of  these  observations,  he, 
unfortunately,  only  published  those  belonging  to  the  last  nine  months  of  the  year  1769, 
in  his  famous  Gaceta  de  Literatura  de  Mexico,  1788  to  1795.  He  also  published  many 
articles  describing  some  phenomena  and  instruments,  climates  of  towns,  value  and 
usefulness  of  observations,  as  he  had  done  in  others  of  his  publications  :  Diario  Liter- 
ario  de  Mexico,  1768  ;  Asuntos  varios  sobre  Ciencias  y  Artes,  1772  to  1773  ;  and  Ob- 
servadones  sobre  la  Fisica  Historia  Natural  y  Artes  litiles^  1787.  He  was  the  first  in 
determining  the  height  of  the  City  of  Mexico. 

After  these  labors  of  Father  Alzate,  we  find  in  the  journal  El  Sol  regular  series 
of  observations  published,  daily,  from  the  I4th  of  June,  1824,  to  the  I4th  of  January, 
1828.  Dr.  John  Burkart  in  1826  ;  Sr.  Francisco  Gerolt  from  1833  to  1834,  at  the 
School  of  Mines  ;  Sr.  Jose  Gomez  de  la  Cortina,  Conde  de  la  Cortina,  from  1841  to 
1845  ;  the  members  of  the  Geographical  Section  of  the  Army  Staff  from  1842  to  1843  » 
the  Astronomer  Sr.  Francisco  Jimenez  in  1858  ;  the  School  of  Mines  in  the  years 
1850,  1856,  1857,  and  1858;  Sr.  Ignacio  Cornejo,  M.E.,  at  the  same  school  from 
1865  to  1866  ;  and  Sr.  Juan  de  Mier  y  Teran  at  the  "  Escuela  Preparatoria  "  from 
1868  to  1875,  respectively,  made  some  meteorological  observations. 

A  series  of  observations  from  1855  to  1875  were  made  at  the  Hacienda  de  San 
Nicolas  Buenavista,  and  another  one  at  the  city  of  Cordoba  from  1859  to  J863,  by 
Dr.  Jose  Apolinario  Nieto  ;  Sr.  Carlos  Sartorius  at  the  Hacienda  del  Mirador  (State 
of  Veracruz) ;  Sr.  Miguel  Velazquez  de  Leon,  and  his  sons,  Joaquin  and  Luis,  engi- 
neers, from  1869  up  to  the  present,  at  the  Hacienda  del  Pabellon  ;  Sr.  Gregorio  Bar- 
reto  from  1869  to  1880,  at  the  city  of  Colima;  General  Mariano  Reyes,  Sr.  Jose 
Maria  Romero,  engineer,  and  Sr.  Pascual  Alcocer,  from  1870  to  the  present  date,  at 
the  city  of  Queretaro  ;  Sr.  Lazaro  Perez  from  1874  to  1885,  at  the  city  of  Guadalajara  ; 
Sr.  Isidore  Epstein  at  the  City  of  Monterrey,  1855  ;  Sr.  Vicente  Reyes,  a  civil  engi- 
neer and  architect,  at  the  city  of  Cuernavaca,  1873,  1874,  and  1876  ;  Sr.  Joaquin  de 
Mendizabal  Tamborrel,  an  engineer,  at  the  city  of  Puebla,  1872  to  1873  ;  Sr.  Augustin 
Galindo  at  the  same  city,  1875  ;  Professor  Manuel  M.  Chazaro  at  San  Juan  Michapa 
(State  of  Veracruz),  1872  to  1873  ;  Priest  Pedro  Spina,  S.  J.,  at  the  city  of  Puebla, 
1876,  and  perhaps  many  others  from  whom  we  have  no  notice,  have  devoted  them- 
selves to  making  meteorological  observations. 

The  "  Sociedad  de  Geografia  y  Estadistica  "  the  most  ancient  scientific  society  in 
Mexico,  distributed,  in  1862,  some  instruments  and  instructions  to  observers. 

Finally,  on  the  6th  of  March,  1877,  being  President  of  the  Republic,  General 


112 


6eo0rapbical  Botes  on 


>    2 

t   2 


Q     S 


w   g 

** 


^^    O 

•6 


o 


• 


o 

CO 


CO 

CO 
CO 


oo  o  w^ 

ffS'ssagg's  g"a 


** 


•    •    •  O-  o>vo  ro  u->oo  oo 


Aw.sjsyrstfts1^ 


jjga^j'ss^ 


«  - 


2  2 


30O>*u^»       o       MO*O**OC*UP>'^  moo  «B    .  oo  o^^j          *o 
Moot^»  *p^>xc!w^l?^'fe"W^^<fe 


NOH^. 


:    % 


O       0  O       *    H 


•  H 


4    ^ 


*  '     ' 


ig  iti 


o<i 


Ube  Cits  of  flDesfco. 


"3 


t 
£ 

bi 


co  co  N  10 

WWW 


iriQ^.O»CO.-NvO     .NO 

.  ?Mw    ^.  :-^M.  -H 

OOOO        OO       fc  X        H  Js 


ddd 


HE  METEOROLOG 
OF  THE  CITY  O 


N  THE  C 
1896. 


•a  %  5 

S  B  | 

•<*  P*p 

H  ffi  # 

g  H  M 

o  o 

s  s  "* 

^  rt  "eo 

>  *3  «r> 

a B  & 

in  O  ° 

•s  8  % 


O 


i 


MfONv 


•    •    •*        "^      ^          ^w^,-r 

OOOO        co  O        Z  fo  2 


M  4  WO  «  *  «  ?  °  «.       5  ^^     .  "  rovd    - 

0>  ^-  IN   -i-vo  «o  OOOO        WO        2  2«2 


lOiOO^O*  IOVO   WO^t^tn     *\OH         O^W     .  vjvo 

ff  ft  ^""  M  *  **"  ** 

OOOOM02  f>z 


dddd      o  d 


eo   Q   O   •*«  00   •*•  Q  \O   O  \O  VO   ^OO   MHt^MVOH 
^-  0  t^oo   M  vo   0  VO   1000   •*  -*-00  OOMH         «0>r 
' 


tvo  e  o 
^  ro  CO  -*• 


.    .    .  . 

OOOOOO«j 


. 
2  IN  10 


M    fOQNCO    O    «    OOO    O^OVOOO    «    M 
iOOva>«0-^-«   -*M   WOO   rovo   cO^- 


»>  moo 

oo 

OO 


fffl''ll^^'0a>"?frfS< 

O  O  O  O        O  O       co  2  "  ^> 


Z 


U4  Geogtapbical  IRotes  on  /JDejico, 

the  digestive  and  respiratory  organs,  the  former  amounting  to  4472  or 
1.35  per  cent,  of  the  population  and  the  latter  to  3904  or  1.18  per  cent, 
of  the  population,  and  both  causing  8376  deaths  or  53.81  per  cent,  of 
the  total  number  of  deaths.  Deaths  by  typhus  and  typhoid  fevers  and 
small-pox,  which  are  supposed  to  make  such  great  ravages  in  the  City 
of  Mexico,  were  in  reality  insignificant,  the  deaths  by  the  former 
amounting  in  that  year  to  480  or  0.14  per  cent,  of  the  population,  and 
the  deaths  by  small-pox  were,  in  the  Federal  District,  embracing  the 
City  of  Mexico  and  twenty-three  suburban  towns,  217  or  0.047  Per  cent- 
of  the  population  of  the  District  which  is  473,820.  Small-pox  only 
attacks  the  very  poor  people,  and,  strange  to  say,  also  foreigners,  even 
in  case  they  have  been  vaccinated  in  their  country,  and  to  be  free  from 
small-pox  they  must  be  vaccinated  in  Mexico. 

The  months  of  the  greatest  mortality  during  the  same  year  were 
from  February  to  May,  and  of  the  smallest  the  month  of  August,  show- 
ing that  the  unhealthy  months  are  the  dry  months,  that  is  before  the 
rains  set  in. 

The  mortality  in  the  City  of  Mexico  is  indeed  very  large,  and  it  is 
due  principally  to  two  causes,  first,  the  want  of  proper  drainage  and 
sewerage  for  the  refuse  of  the  city,  a  trouble  which  is  now  almost  com- 

Porfirio  Diaz,  and  by  the  suggestion  of  General  Vicente  Riva  Palacio,  then  Secretary 
of  Public  Works,  the  Central  Meteorological  Observatory  was  established.  From 
that  date  up  to  the  present,  an  uninterrupted  hourly  observation  is  regularly  taken 
during  the  day  and  the  night  in  the  Central  Meteorological  Observatory.  Some  mag- 
netical  observations  have  also  been  made,  and  the  Observatory  is  now  thought  of  be- 
ing removed  to  a  more  suitable  spot. 

After  the  establishment  of  the  Central  Meteorological  Observatory,  some  official 
or  private  meteorological  stations  have  also  been  established  as  follows  :  Aguascalien- 
tes  (Institute  del  Estado)  ;  Guadalajara  (Escuela  de  Ingenieros),  observer,  Augustin 
V.  Pascal  ;  Guanajuato  (Colegio  del  Estado),  observer,  Genaro  Montes  de  Oca  ;  Leon 
(Escuela  Secundaria),  observer,  Mariano  Leal  ;  Mazatlan  (Observatorio  Astronomico 
y  Meteorologico),  observer,  N.  Gonzalez ;  Oaxaca  (Colegio  del  Estado),  observer,  Dr. 
A.  Dominguez ;  Pachuca  (Institute  del  Estado),  observer,  Dr.  N.  Andrade ;  Puebla 
(Colegio  Catolico  and  Colegio  del  Estado),  observers,  Priest  P.  Spina  and  B.  G.  Gon- 
zalez respectively ;  Queretaro  (Colegio  Civil),  observer,  J.  B.  Alcocer ;  San  Luis  Po- 
tosi  (Institute  del  Estado),  observer,  Dr.  G.  Barroeta  ;  Toluca  (Institute  del  Estado), 
observer,  S.  Enriquez ;  Veracruz,  observer,  G.  Baturoni ;  Zacatecas  (Institute),  J.  A. 
Bonilla.  Dr.  Manuel  Andrade,  of  Huejutla  ;  Dr.  Matienzo,  of  Tampico;  Father 
Perez,  of  Morelia  ;  Father  Arreola,  of  Colima ;  Father  Castellanos,  of  Zapotlan  ;  Sr. 
Pascual  Borbon,  of  Tacambaro,  are  enlightened  observers  to  whom  the  Central  Me- 
teorological Observatory  is  indebted  for  their  valuable  co-operation,  and  also  to  the 
telegraph  operators  of  the  "  Telegraph  system,"  who  send,  daily,  some  weather  obser- 
vations to  this  office. 

The  staff  of  the  Central  Meteorological  Observatory  is  now  as  follows:  Director, 
Mariano  Barcena ;  Vice-Director,  Jose  Zendejas,  C.E.  ;  Second  Observer,  Francisco 
Toro ;  Assistants,  Rafael  Aguilar,  Francisco  Quiroga,  Angel  Robelo,  Jose  Torres, 
and  J.  I.  Vazquez. 


115 

pletely  remedied,  and  the  second,  the  unhygienic  way  of  living  of  the 
poor  classes,  among  whom  takes  place  the  largest  mortality. 

The  very  large  number  of  still-births  which  occurred  in  the  City  of 
Mexico  in  1896,  almost  exclusively  among  the  poor  classes,  shows  the 
little  care  that  the  poor  women  take  of  themselves,  and  is  enough  to  ex- 
plain the  present  large  mortality. 

RAILWAYS. 

For  many  years  the  government  earnestly  endeavored  to  further 
the  construction  of  railroads  in  Mexico,  but  the  broken  surface  of  the 
country  made  the  building  of  these  roads  very  expensive.  Until  1873 
the  means  of  internal  locomotion  were  mainly  limited  to  a  few  wagon 
roads,  over  which  travelled  twenty-four  regular  lines  of  diligences, 
under  one  management ;  and  bridle-paths  from  the  central  plateau 
over  the  sierras  and  terrace  lands  down  to  a  few  points  on  both  coasts. 

In  1854  the  first  railroad  was  finished,  connecting  the  City  of  Mex- 
ico with  Guadalupe,  about  three  miles  in  length,  and  another  from 
Veracruz  to  Tejeria  towards  the  City  of  Mexico  about  twelve  miles  in 
length  ;  these  being  the  only  railroads  that  were  built,  up  to  1861. 
During  the  French  Intervention  the  French  army  extended  the  Tejeria 
road  to  Paso  del  Macho,  about  thirty-five  miles  further,  to  the  foot  of 
the  mountain,  so  as  to  be  able  to  transport  their  army,  with  the  shortest 
delay  possible,  out  of  the  yellow-fever  zone,  toward  the  central  plateau  ; 
and  an  English  Company,  which  had  a  grant  for  a  road  from  the  City  of 
Mexico  to  Veracruz,  which  was  supposed  at  the  time  to  be  the  only  one 
that  could  be  built  in  Mexico,  extended  the  Guadalupe  road  to  Api- 
zaco  in  the  direction  of  Veracruz  and  not  far  from  Puebla. 

No  construction  of  consequence  was  done  immediately  after  the 
French  Intervention,  because  the  country  was  generally  in  a  disturbed 
condition,  although  several  efforts  were  made  in  that  direction  by 
President  Juarez,  under  whose  administration  a  new  and  very  liberal 
grant  was  given  to  the  Veracruz  railway  company.  The  Veracruz 
road  was  finished  in  1873,  during  SeSor  Lerdo  de  Tejada's  Presidency, 
and  when  General  Diaz  became  President  in  1876  he  earnestly  pro- 
moted railroad  building  ;  and  we  now  have  two  trunk  lines  connecting 
the  City  of  Mexico  with  the  United  States — the  Mexican  Central  to 
El  Paso,  Texas,  with  a  branch  from  San  Luis  Potosi  to  the  port  of 
Tampico,  and  another  from  Irapuato  to  Guadalajara,  which  has  re- 
cently been  extended  to  Ameca,  towards  the  Pacific  ;  and  the  Mexican 
National  to  Laredo,  Texas,  with  several  branches.  Another  trunk 
line  from  Eagle  Pass  to  Torreon  and  Durango,  which  it  is  intended 
shall  finally  reach  the  Pacific,  has  also  been  built  by  Mr.  C.  P.  Hunt- 
ington  and  his  associates.  There  is  besides  a  line  from  Nogales  to 
Guaymas,  built  and  owned  by  the  Atchison,  Topeka,  and  Santa  Fe 


n6  0eo0rapbical  IRotes  on 

Company  ;  and  these  four  lines  connect  us  with  the  main  systems  of 
the  United  States,  our  lines  being  in  fact  extensions  of  the  United 
States  railway  system. 

We  have  now  two  lines  from  the  City  of  Mexico  to  Veracruz,  the 
old  Veracruz  road  passing  by  Orizaba,  and  the  Interoceanic,  which 
runs  from  Veracruz  by  Jalapa  and  the  City  of  Mexico  and  is  intended 
to  reach  the  Pacific.  All  of  our  roads,  excepting  the  one  built  by  Mr. 
Huntington,  have  had  large  subsidies  paid  by  the  Mexican  Govern- 
ment, and  in  one  case,  that  of  the  Veracruz  railroad,  the  subsidy  paid 
was  $560,000  per  year,  for  twenty-eight  years,  or  about  $57,471  per 
English  mile,  although  the  average  subsidy  per  mile,  according  to 
President  Diaz's  report,  dated  November  30,  1896,  is  $14,380. 

The  Tehuantepec  railway,  running  from  Coatzacoalcos  on  the  Gulf 
of  Mexico  to  Salina  Cruz  on  the  Pacific,  about  one  hundred  and  thirty 
miles  in  length,  has  been  built  at  great  expense  and  at  a  great  sacrifice 
by  the  Mexican  Government.  I  published  in  the  Engineering  Maga- 
zine for  March,  1894,'  an  article  stating  the  different  efforts  made  by 
the  Mexican  Government  to  have  that  road  built,  and  the  advantages 
that  we  expected  from  it  as  a  highway  of  trade  between  the  Atlantic 
and  the  Pacific.  The  Mexican  Government  has  recently  made  a  con- 
tract with  Messrs.  E.  Weetman,  Pearson  &  Son,  of  London,  for  the 
building  of  good  harbors  at  both  ends  of  the  road,  and  when  that  is 
accomplished  we  expect  that  a  great  deal  of  eastern  trade  will  pass 
through  Tehuantepec. 

With  the  exception  of  the  Tehuantepec  road,  we  have  not  yet  any 
road  running  from  the  Atlantic  to  the  Pacific,  although  several  are  in 
process  of  construction.  The  descent  of  the  mountains  is  on  the  Pa- 
cific slope  a  great  deal  more  difficult  than  on  the  Gulf  coast,  where  the 
large  centres  of  population  are  located  near  the  Gulf,  and  this  explains 
why  none  of  the  roads  have  so  far  been  able  to  reach  the  Pacific  Ocean. 

Our  railway  system  extends  now,  in  the  direction  of  Guatemala,  as 
far  as  the  city  of  Oaxaca,  where  we  are  only  about  five  hundred  miles 
away  from  our  frontier  with  Guatemala.  In  other  directions,  our  sys- 
tem reaches  the  principal  cities  and  commercial  and  mining  centres  of 
the  country. 

The  total  mileage  of  railway  in  1895  was  6989}  English  miles. 
President  Diaz,  in  his  above  mentioned  report  gives,  the  total  mileage 
of  railways  in  Mexico  as  11,469  kilometres  or  7126  miles  ;  and  in  his 
message  to  Congress  on  April  i,  1897,  he  stated  that  the  railway  mile- 
age had  been  increased  by  238  kilometres  550  metres,  finished  and 
received  by  the  Government,  and  248  kilometres  built,  but  not  yet  re- 
ceived officially^  making  a  total  mileage  of  11,955  kilometres  550 
metres,  or  7.429  miles. 

1  This  paper  will  appear  in  this  volume. 


117 

President  Diaz's  Railway  Policy. — President  Diaz  deserves  a  great 
deal  of  credit  for  his  efforts  to  promote  in  Mexico,  material  improve- 
ments, and  especially  in  railroad  building.  When  he  came  into  power, 
in  1877,  public  opinion  was  very  much  divided  as  to  the  policy  of 
allowing  citizens  of  the  United  States  to  develop  the  resources  of  the 
country  by  building  railroads,  working  mines,  etc.  Our  experience  of 
what  took  place  in  consequence  of  the  liberal  grants  given  by  Mexico 
to  Texan  colonists  made  many  fear  that  a  repetition  of  that  liberal 
policy  might  endanger  the  future  of  the  country  by  giving  a  foothold 
in  it  to  citizens  of  the  United  States  who  might  afterward,  if  circum- 
stances favored  them,  attempt  to  repeat  the  case  of  Texas.  President 
Lerdo  de  Tejada  seemed  to  share  such  fears  judging  by  his  policy  in 
this  regard.  But  President  Diaz,  as  a  broad-minded  and  patriotic 
statesman,  believed  that  the  best  interest  of  the  country  required  its 
material  development,  and  that  it  would  not  be  advisible  to  discrimi- 
nate against  citizens  of  the  United  States,  as  that  country  was  more 
interested  than  any  other,  on  account  of  its  contiguity  to  Mexico, 
in  developing  the  resources  of  our  country  by  building  an  extensive 
system  of  railways,  and  would,  therefore,  be  more  ready  than  any 
other  to  assist  in  building  them.  He  trusted,  at  the  same  time,  that 
when  the  resources  of  the  country  should  be  more  fully  developed,  it 
would  become  so  strong  as  to  be  beyond  reach  of  the  temptation  by 
foreign  states  or  individuals.  The  results  of  the  work  done  in  Mexico 
so  far  show  that  General  Diaz  acted  wisely,  and  proved  himself  equal 
to  the  task  before  him. 

Many  in  Mexico,  and  myself  among  the  number,  thought  that,  as 
the  railroads  were  such  lucrative  enterprises,  especially  in  a  country 
endowed  with  so  many  natural  elements  of  wealth  as  Mexico,  it  would 
not  be  judicious  to  give  their  promoters  any  pecuniary  assistance,  in 
the  shape  of  subsidies  or  otherwise,  the  more  so  as  the  finances  of  the 
country  were  then  in  a  critical  condition,  and  it  would  not  be  wise  to 
increase  its  burdens  by  large  pecuniary  subsidies  in  aid  of  private  en- 
terprises. My  opinion  in  this  case  was  based  mainly  on  what  I  had 
seen  in  the  United  States,  namely  :  that  long  lines  of  railways  are  built 
in  this  country  without  any  pecuniary  assistance  from  the  Govern- 
ment, and  that  when  the  Government  subsidized  any  one  line  it  be- 
came a  source  of  great  dissatisfaction  and  very  unpleasant  questions, 
which  are  yet  unsettled.  We  feared  also  that  such  large  subsidies  as 
were  asked  by  the  railway  promoters  would  amount  in  the  end  to  so 
large  a  sum  as  to  make  it  impossible  for  Mexico  to  pay  it,  discrediting 
the  country.  But  in  this  case  General  Diaz's  view  seems  to  have  been 
the  right  one,  in  so  far  as  that  it  afforded  a  great  inducement  for  the 
immediate  building  of  large  trunk  lines  of  railways,  which,  without 
subsidy,  might  have  been  delayed  for  several  years.  He  thought  it 


us  0eo$rapbical  iRotes  on 

worth  while  to  spend  large  sums  of  money  for  the  purpose  of  having 
railways  built  without  delay,  rather  than  trust  to  the  fluctuations  of 
confidence  and  credit  in  the  foreign  exchanges,  that  would  enable  the 
prospective  companies  to  obtain  the  funds  necessary  to  build  their 
roads,  trusting,  at  the  same  time,  that  the  material  development  of  the 
country  promoted  by  the  railroads  would  yield  revenue  enough  to  pay 
all  the  subsidies  granted.  Fortunately  all  railroad  subsidies  contracted 
by  Mexico  have  been  punctually  paid,  and  their  amount  forms  now  a 
large  item  of  our  national  debt.  To  pay  some  of  them  the  mistake 
was  made  of  negotiating  a  sterling  loan  on  Europe,  to  pay  a  silver 
debt ;  but  even  in  that  way  the  transaction  is  not  altogether  a  bad 
one. 

General  Diaz's  policy  was  to  give  a  railway  subsidy  to  anybody 
asking  for  it  without  investigating  the  responsibility  of  the  concern, 
with  the  idea  that  if  the  road  was  built  the  country  would  get  the 
benefit  of  the  same,  and  if  it  was  not  built  nothing  would  be  lost,  as 
there  was  in  all  grants,  a  clause  to  the  effect  that  if  no  building  was 
done  within  a  given  time,  the  grant  should  by  that  mere  fact  be  for- 
feited, the  forfeiture  to  be  declared  by  the  Administration. 

The  system  of  subsidizing  railways  has  a  great  many  drawbacks, 
but  at  the  same  time  commands  some  decided  advantages,  like  giving 
the  government  the  strict  supervision  over  the  roads  who  have  to  sub- 
mit to  it  for  its  approval,  tariffs  for  freights  and  passengers,  the  free 
carrying  of  the  mails,  the  duty  of  the  company  to  present  to  the 
government  a  yearly  statement  of  its  traffic,  receipts,  etc.,  and  other 
similar  advantages.  In  all  grants  to  subsidized  railroads  there  is  a 
stipulation  that  at  the  end  of  ninety-nine  years  the  road-bed  would 
revert  to  the  Mexican  government. 

President  Diaz 's  Statistics  on  Mexican  Railways. — Before  I  close  this 
chapter  I  think  it  will  not  be  out  of  place  to  quote  some  remarks  of 
President  Diaz  concerning  our  Mexican  railroads,  which  occur  in  his 
above-mentioned  report. 


"  In  1875  we  had  578  kilometres  285  metres  of  railway,  in  1885  we  had  5915 
kilometres,  in  1886,  6018  kilometres,  in  November,  1888,  7940  kilometres,  in  June, 
1892,  10,233,  an<l  including  the  tramways  and  other  local  and  private  lines,  the 
amount  was  11,067  kilometres  ;  in  September,  1894,  we  had  11,100  kilometres  ;  in 
April,  1896,  11,165  kilometres,  and  now  we  have  11,469  kilometres.  .  .  . 

1 '  We  stand  first  in  railroad  building  of  all  the  Latin- American  countries.  Dur- 
ing the  years  1877  to  1892  Mexico  built  more  railroads  than  any  other  Latin-American 
State,  being  11,165  kilometres  ;  the  Argentine  Republic  takes  the  second  place,  with 
8108  kilometres,  and  Brazil  the  third,  with  6193  kilometres,  built  during  the  years 
mentioned.  The  average  number  of  kilometres  built  per  annum  in  Mexico  during  this 
period  was  689,  the  maximum  having  been  reached  in 


•Railways.  119 

1881-82 1938  kilometres 

1882-83 , 1727 

1887-88 1217 

1889      1263 

The  number  of  passengers  carried  in 

1876 4,281,327 

1890 19,531,395 

1893 22,781,343 

1895 24,269,895 

The  freight  handled  in 

1876 132,915  tons 

1890 2,734,430   " 

1893 3,798,36o   " 

1895 4,117,511    " 

The  gross  receipts  in 

1876 $2,564,870 

1890 21,019,960 

1893 26,121,624 

1897 28,758,450 

"  The  subsidies  paid  for  railroads  up  to  December,  1892,  averaged  $8935  per  kilo- 
metre of  road  built  and  in  operation  at  that  date.  This  average  is  much  less  than  that 
of  the  subsidies  paid  by  other  Latin-American  countries,  the  Republic  of  Chili  having 
averaged  $17,635  per  kilometre,  and  the  Argentine  Republic  $31,396. 

"  The  railroad  system  of  the  Republic  has  given  the  capital  direct  and  rapid  con- 
nection with  our  principal  states.  Throughout  the  length  of  the  central  plateau  to  the 
frontier,  Mexico  City  is  connected  with  the  capitals  of  the  states  of  Queretaro,  Guana- 
juato, Jalisco,  Aguascalientes,  Zacatecas,  Chihuahua,  and  San  Luis  Potosi  by  the 
Mexican  Central  Railway,  and  with  Durango  by  the  Mexican  International  ;  with 
the  states  of  Mexico,  Guanajuato,  Michoacan,  San  Luis  Potosi,  Coahuila  and  Nuevo 
Leon  by  the  Mexican  National ;  with  the  cities  of  Puebla,  Orizaba,  Cordoba,  Vera- 
cruz, and  Jalapa  by  the  Mexican  Railway  and  by  the  Interoceanic,  and  with  Tehuacan 
and  Oaxaca  by  the  Mexican  Southern  from  Puebla.  Three  lines  connect  the  capital 
with  the  northern  frontier ;  the  Central,  which  terminates  in  Ciudad  Juarez ;  the 
National,  which  runs  to  Nuevo  Laredo  ;  and  the  International,  which,  from  its  junction 
with  the  Central  at  Torreon,  runs  to  Piedras  Negras.  And  as  to  our  various  ports 
Guaymas  is  connected  with  Nogale  on  the  northern  frontier  ;  Manzanillo  with  Colima  ; 
Matamoros  with  Reynosa  and  San  Miguel ;  Tampico  with  San  Luis  Potosi  and  Mon- 
terrey ;  Veracruz  with  Jalapa  and  Mexico  ;  and  the  first  really  Interoceanic  railway  of 
the  Republic  across  the  Isthmus  of  the  Tehuantepec,  united  the  Atlantic  and  Pacific 
oceans  by  connecting  the  port  of  Coatzacoalcos,  on  the  gulf,  with  the  port  of  Salina  Cruz 
on  the  Pacific  coast.  Southward  from  the  capital  of  the  Republic  the  Interoceanic 
traverses  the  State  of  Morelos,  and  the  Mexico,  Cuernavaca  and  Pacific  Railway  has 
its  line  located  to  the  City  of  Cuernavaca  and  is  pushing  on  through  the  state  of  Guer- 
rero to  the  port  of  Acapulco.  In  the  peninsula  of  Yucatan,  the  lines  connecting 
Campeche  and  Merida  are  nearly  finished  ;  while  the  port  of  Progreso  has  rail  com- 
munication with  Merida." 

Financial  Condition  of  Mexican  Railways. — Our  railroads  are  doing 
remarkably  well,  and  their  traffic,  especially  domestic,  is  daily  increas- 


J2O 


Oeoorapbicai  Wotes  on 


ing  and  grows  in  much  larger  proportion  than  the  foreign,  or  inter- 
national traffic  ;  and  they  are  paying  the  interest  on  their  debt,  which 
is  due  and  paid  in  gold,  notwithstanding  that  they  collect  their 
freights  in  silver,  which  has  been  for  several  years  at  a  great  discount,, 
losing  at  the  present  rate  of  exchange  about  one  hundred  per  cent,  in 
the  operation  ;  but  their  business  is  such  that  they  can  afford  to  suffer 
that  loss. 

In  the  statistical  section  of  this  paper  will  be  found  a  list  of  our 
railroads,  their  mileage,  earnings,  and  several  other  data,  showing  that 
they  are  in  a  prosperous  condition,  all  of  which  will  be  of  interest  to 
those  who  desire  to  have  a  more  intimate  acquaintance  with  the  railway 
system  of  Mexico.  I  will  only  insert  here  the  following  statement  of 
the  annual  building  and  earnings  of  the  Mexican  railways,  sup- 
plementing it  with  a  comparative  statement  showing  the  tonnage 
moved  by  the  principal  railway  lines,  for  the  ten  years  ending  Decem- 
ber 31,  1896,  which  shows  a  great  increase  in  their  business,  and  con- 
sequently in  their  earnings. 

ANNUAL    BUILDINGS   AND    EARNINGS   OF    MEXICAN    RAILWAYS. 


YEAR. 

MILES   OF  ROADS   BUILT. 

ANNUAL   EARNINGS. 

Each  year. 

Total. 

187-5 

5,393 
47,o87 
2,265 

3,739 
40,748 
91,950 
120,328 
429,858 
1,204,118 
1,073,404 
282,523 

73,6i4 
49,099 
323,084 
756,522 
390,650 
784,744 
495,015 
352,171 
14,829 
118,810 

359,306 
364,699 
418,001 
414,052 
4I7.791 
458,539 
550,488 
670,817 
1,100,675 
2,304,792 
3,378,196 
3,660,719 
3,734,332 
3,783,432 
4,106,516 
4,863,060 
5,253,096 
6,037,752 
6,532,711 
6,884,842 
6,870,015 
6,888,811 

$2,097,104.55 
2,665,496.18 
2,799,696.13 
2,563,241.00 
3,213,434.17 
3,400,799.89 
3,828,718.65 
4,504,135-39 
5,679,193.37 
Q,883,7I9.5I 
12,102,583.34 
11,089,136.39 
10,656,551.42 
11,373,667.63 
13,310,218.79 
16,121,267.79 
18,788,142.29 
20,919,287.14 
23,762,172.87 
25,363,922.29 
25,359,244.06 

l87^..  , 

^76      ....           

1878.   . 

1870 

!88o      

1881  

1882  

1883  

1884 

l88s.. 

!886                      

1887 

1888  

1889 

1800 

1801  . 

1802  

180-3  . 

1804.. 

121 


COMPARATIVE   STATEMENT,    SHOWING    APPROXIMATE    TONNAGE  MOVED 

BY    THE    UNDERMENTIONED    RAILWAYS    FOR    THE    TEN    YEARS 

ENDED    DECEMBER    31,    1 896. 

{Compiled  from  published  reports  and  information  furnished  by  the  re- 
spective railway  companies?) 


YEAR. 

CENTRAL 
RAILWAY. 

NATIONAL 
RAILWAY. 

INTKROCEANIC 
RAILWAY. 

MEXICAN 
RAILWAY. 

TOTAL. 

Tons. 

Tons. 

Tons. 

Tons. 

Tons. 

l887 

346,898 
477,530 
Inc.  34.4 

540,479 
Inc.  13.1 

609,382 
Inc.  12.7 
867,657 
Inc.  42.3 
1,091,785 
Inc.  25.8 
860,187 
Dec.  21.2 

898,484 
Inc.  4.4 

1,047,038 
Inc.  16.5 
1,231,025 
Inc.  17.5 

77,935 
372,800 

Inc.  378.3 
428,314 
Inc.  14.8 

472,045 
Inc.  10.2 

502,856 
Inc.  7.3 
588,505 
Inc.  17. 

552,123 
Dec.  6.5 

558,382 
Inc.  i.i 

636,193 
Inc.  13.9 

782,106 
Inc.  22.9 

141,090 

197,231 
Inc.  39.7 

186,222 
Dec.  5.5 
281,769 
Inc.  51.3 
277,866 
Dec.  1.3 

365,191 
Inc.  31.4 

380,805 
Inc.  4.3 
444,191 
Inc.  16.6 
464,976 
Inc.  4.4 

479,744 
Inc.  3.1 

273,194 
318,893 
Inc.  16.7 

354,321 
Inc.  ii.  i 

384,584 
Inc.  8.2 

409,185 
Inc.    .6 
367,980 
Dec.  10. 

385,923 
Inc.  4.8 

433,637 
Inc.  12.3 

453,289 
Inc.  4.5 

756,330 
Inc.  66.8 

839,H7 
1,366,454 
Inc.  62.7 

1,509,336 
Inc.  10.4 

1,747,780 
Inc.  15.7 

2,057,564 
Inc.  17.7 

2,413,461 
Inc.  17.3 
2,179,038 
Dec.  9.7 
2,334,694 
Inc.  7.1 
2,601,496 
Inc.  11.4 
3,249,205 
Inc.  24.8 

1888 

1880.  . 

1800 

iSoi 

1892 

180^.  . 

I8Q4.      . 

i8os 

1896.. 

7,970,465 

4,971,259 

3,219,085 

4,137,336 

20,298,145 

CITY  OF  MEXICO,  May  19,  1897. 


(S.) 


A.  BLAKE. 


TELEGRAPHS. 

We  have  quite  a  number  of  miles  of  telegraph  lines  in  Mexico,  and> 
our  service  is  now  as  good  as  that  of  any  other  country.  The  first  tele- 
graph line  built  and  owned  in  Mexico  by  a  private  company,  liberally 
assisted  by  the  government,  extended  from  Veracruz  to  the  City  of 
Mexico.  On  November  5,  1851,  the  first  section  was  inaugurated  from 
the  City  of  Mexico  to  Nopalucan,  and  on  May  19,  1852,  to  Veracruz. 

In  1853  another  company  established  a  line  from  the  City  of  Mexico 
towards  the  north  to  Leon  in  the  State  of  Guanajuato,  and  in  1865  a 
line  was  finished  to  San  Luis  Potosi. 

In  1868  and  1869  a  private  company,  called  the  "  Jalisco  Company  " 
established  the  line  between  the  City  of  Mexico  and  Guadalajara,  which 
was  soon  afterwards  extended  to  Manzanillo  and  San  Bias.  After  the 
restoration  of  the  Republic  in  1867,  the  Mexican  government  began  to 


<3eo0rapbical  Botes  on  flDejico, 

build  lines  to  the  principal  centres  of  population  of  the  country,  and  in 
1890  it  bought  the  Jalisco  line,  and  in  1894  the  Veracruz. 

From  1869  to  1876  the  States  of  Michoacan,  Oaxaca,  and  Zacate- 
cas  established  several  lines  in  their  respective  jurisdictions.  When 
General  Diaz  became  President  in  1876,  the  National  Telegraphic 
Lines  only  had  7927  kilometres. 

In  1885  the  Federal  Goverment  transferred  to  the  States,  without 
any  cost,  all  the  telegraphic  lines  which  were  considered  of  local  inter- 
est, keeping  only  such  as  could  be  called  trunk  lines. 

In  1893  we  had  37,880  English  miles  of  telegraph  lines,  of  which 
24,840  belonged  to  the  Federal  Government,  the  remainder  belonging 
in  about  equal  parts  to  the  States,  private  companies  and  railways. 

The  following  statement,  which  I  take  from  the  Anuario  Estadistico 
de  la  Republica  Mexicano,  1895,  shows  the  telegraphic  lines  belonging 
to  the  Federal  Government,  to  the  States,  to  private  companies  and  to 
railroads  : 

Federal  Lines 43,416  k  780  m 

State  Lines 5,544      °68  " 

Private  Company  Lines 4,73°      980  " 

Railroad  Lines 9,?6i      61  r  " 


General  Total 63,453  k  439  " 

On  November  30,  1896,  the  total  mileage  of  our  telegraph  lines  was, 
according  to  the  President's  report  of  that  date,  45,000  kilometres, 
27,962  English  miles,  and  that  amount  was  increased,  according  to 
the  President's  message  of  April  i,  1897,  to  45,259  kilometres,  28,123 
miles. 

In  1891  the  operations  of  the  various  lines  throughout  the  Republic 
involved  the  transmission  of  1,050,000  messages,  of  which  about  800,- 
ooo  were  private,  and  the  remainder  official.  The  receipts  from  this 
branch  of  the  public  service  amounted  to  $469,305  collected  at  767 
offices  ;  the  expenditure  included  for  repairs  an  average  of  $3  per 
kilometre,  and  for  salaries  a  total  of  $671,431. 

The  proceeds  of  the  Federal  telegraphic  lines  were,  according  to 
President  Diaz's  report  of  November  30,  1896,  as  follows  : 

Fiscal  Year,  1883-1884 $239,051 

"         "      1890-1891 462,076 

"     1893-1894 : 524,634 

1895-1896 537,308 

In  the  statistical  portion  of  this  paper  will  be  found  a  detail  state- 
ment of  the  earnings  and  expenses  of  the  national  telegraphic  lines  of 


postal  Service,  123 

Mexico  for  the  27  fiscal  years  which  elapsed  from  July  i,  1869,  to 
June  30,  1896,  and  such  data  as  it  is  possible  to  obtain  for  the  ten 
years  which  elapsed  from  July  i,  1869,1.0  June  30,  1879. 

Cables. — Up  to  1887  there  was  no  communication  between  Mexico 
and  foreign  countries.  In  1880  the  Mexican  Cable  Co.  built  their 
cables  from  Galveston  to  Tampico,  Veracruz  and  Coatzacoalcos,  on 
the  Gulf  of  Mexico,  and  a  telegraphic  line  from  Coatzacoalcos  to  Salina 
Cruz,  on  the  Pacific,  which  was  extended  to  Central  and  South  Amer- 
ica. Cables  had  been  laid  between  Jicalango  and  El  Carmen  and  be- 
tween the  rivers  Grijalva  and  Coatzacoalcos,  and  now  through  those 
cables  we  are  in  direct  communication  with  the  United  States  and 
Europe. 

POSTAL    SERVICE. 

Our  postal  service  has  improved  considerably  of  late.  It  was  until 
recently  quite  imperfect  on  account  of  the  difficult  and  expensive  ways 
of  communication.  It  used  to  be  slow  and  so  expensive  that  it  was 
almost  prohibitory,  and  up  to  1870  the  single  postage  of  a  letter,  weigh- 
ing one  quarter  an  ounce  was  25  cents,  and  double  for  any  distance  ex- 
ceeding sixty  miles.  After  Mexico  entered  into  the  Universal  Postal 
Union,  in  1870,  the  postage  of  letters  for  foreign  countries  was  reduced 
to  5  cents,  and  that  reduction  made  it  necessary  to  reduce  the  home 
postage  from  25  to  10  cents.  Recently  it  has  been  reduced  again  from 
10  to  5  cents. 

There  were  in  the  whole  country,  in  1883,  one  head  post-office  at 
the  national  capital,  53  first-class  post-offices,  265  second  class,  for 
the  most  part  inefficient,  and  518  postal  agencies,  little  better  than  use- 
less. The  entire  service  as  it  was  being  rendered  at  837  stations.  The 
evils  resulting  from  the  very  high  postage  were  further  aggravated  by 
the  insecurity  of  the  mails.  The  revenue  of  the  postal  department  in 
that  year  amounted  to  $817,244. 

The  total  number  of  post-offices  and  postal  agencies  in  1893  was 
1448,  and  the  mail  pouches  are  now  transported  on  railways  over  a  total 
distance  of  10,000  kilometres,  or  more  than  6000  miles.  Over  the  re- 
maining distances  in  the  interior  the  mails  are  conveyed  either  by 
stages  or  by  foot  or  mounted  carriers. 

President  Diaz  gives  in  his  report  of  November  30,  1896,  the  follow- 
ing statistics  about  our  postal  services  : 

Post  Offices.          Postal  Agencies. 

1877 53 269 

1888 356 719 

1892 356 1430 

1895 469 ,..1471 

1896 471 1500 


124  Oeograpbical  IRotes  on  /IDejico. 

President  Diaz  states  in  his  same  report  that  the  total  number  of 
pieces  distributed  by  our  mails  in  the  year  1878  was  5,169,892,  while 
in  the  year  1896  the  number  increased  to  24,000,000. 

For  the  purpose  of  communicating  with  foreign  countries,  especially 
before  railroads  were  finished,  the  Mexican  government  granted  large 
subsidies  to  steamship  companies,  running  especially  between  Mexican 
and  United  States  ports,  and  their  amount  increased  considerably  the 
expenses  of  our  post-office  department. 

In  the  statistical  part  of  this  paper  I  shall  insert  the  statement  of 
the  earnings  and  expenses  of  the  postal  service  in  Mexico,  in  the  twenty- 
seven  years  elapsed  from  July  i,  1869,  to  June  30,  1896. 

PUBLIC    LANDS. 

The  Spanish  government  considered  itself  the  owner  of  lands  in 
Mexico,  and  it  granted  them  to  private  parties  under  certain  very 
liberal  regulations.  The  Indians  having  been  the  original  owners,  and 
needing  the  lands  to  raise  their  food,  and  textiles  for  their  clothing,  could 
not  be  entirely  deprived  of  them,  and  a  large  portion  of  the  land  was 
left  to  each  municipality  to  be  held  generally  in  common  by  the 
inhabitants  of  the  same.  Large  tracts  of  land  remain,  however,  which 
had  not  been  granted  either  to  the  Indians  nor  to  the  Spanish  settlers, 
and  these  we  called  vacant  lands — Terrenes  Baldios.  The  Mexican 
government  succeeded  Spain  in  the  ownership  of  public  lands,  and 
with  a  view  to  make  them  available  for  colonization  an  easy  system  to 
dispose  of  them  at  a  comparatively  low  price  was  established. 

The  greatest  difficulty  was  to  find  the  public  lands,  as  they  had  never 
before  been  surveyed,  and  a  great  many  were  occupied  without  title  by 
private  parties.  As  such  survey  would  be  very  expensive,  the 
Mexican  government  devised  a  plan  of  contracting  that  work  with 
private  companies,  paying  them  with  one-third  of  the  land  measured,, 
and  in  that  way  large  portions  of  the  public  lands  have  been  surveyed. 

It  appears  from  President  Diaz's  report  to  his  fellow-citizens,  dated 
November  30,  1896,  that  up  to  1888  private  companies  had  surveyed 
33,811,524,  hectares  of  public  lands,  for  which  they  received  in  pay- 
ment for  their  work  one-third  or  11,036,407  hectares.  In  the  four  years 
from  1889  to  1892,  16,820,141  hectares  of  public  lands  were  surveyed 
by  private  companies,  of  which  11,213,427  hectares  belonged  to  the 
government,  and  in  that  way  in  less  than  ten  years  it  was  possible  to 
survey  50,631,665  hectares.  Out  of  this  amount  the  government  sold 
to  private  parties  and  to  colonization  companies  1,607,493  hectares, 
and  to  private  companies  who  were  in  possession  of  public  lands  held 
by  them  without  any  title,  which  we  call  demacias,  4,222,991  hectares. 
At  the  same  time  the  government  has  been  trying  to  divide  the  lands 
held  in  common  by  the  Indian  towns  between  the  inhabitants  of  the 


flmmigration. 


125 


same,  and  up  to  1888  it  had  distributed  in  that  manner  67,368  hectares 
among  2936  titles,  and  from  1889  to  1892  180,169  hectares  among 
4560  titles.  In  accordance  with  the  provisions  of  our  public  land 
laws  we  sold  to  private  parties,  who  pre-empted  the  lands  for  purchase, 
which  we  call  "denuncio,"  3,635,388  hectares  among  1504  titles,  and 
from  1889  to  1892  1,353,137  hectares  among  1218  titles.  From  July  i, 
1891,  to  August  18,  1896,  9,677,689  hectares  of  land  were  surveyed,  of 
which  6,504,912  hectares  belong  to  the  government,  and  the  balance, 
3,I72j777  hectares,  belong  to  private  companies. 

Every  year  the  Department  of  Fomento  publishes  under  authority 
of  law  a  price-list  of  public  lands,  which  have  different  prices  in  each 
state  and  are  sometimes  divided  into  three  classes  ;  the  first,  second, 
and  third  having  each  a  different  price.  The  following  is  the  official 
price  of  public  lands  fixed  by  the  Department  of  Fomento  for  the 
fiscal  year  1895-1896  : 


STATES 

PRICE 
PER   HECTARE 

STATES 

PRICE 
PER    HECTARE 

$2.25 
1.  80 
1.  00 

2.25 

2.00 
1.  00 
I.OO 

3.35 

1.  10 

2.25 
2.25 

3.35 

2.25 

4.50 

I.OO 

$1.10 
3-35 
3-35 
2.25 
I.IO 
I.OO 

2.50 

I.OO 

2.25 

2.75 

1.  80 

2.25 

5.60 

2.00 
0.65 

Campeche  

Puebla  .    . 

Oueretaro  

San  Luis  Potosi  

Chiapas                  

Sinaloa 

Chihuahua  

Sonora  

Tabasco  

Guanajuato           

Tamaulipas 

Tlaxcala      .             

Jalisco                     ....... 

Yucatan  

Mexico  

Zacatecas  

Michoacan 

District  federal 

Morelos       

Territore  de  Tepic 

New  Leon  

Territory  of  Lower  Cal.  .  . 

In  the  statistical  part  of  this  paper  I  shall  insert  some  data  about 
the  sales  of  public  lands  by  the  Mexican  government  from  1867  to  1895, 
and  a  statement  of  the  titles  issued  from  the  years  1877  to  1895. 


IMMIGRATION. 

It  has  always  been  the  aim  of  the  Mexican  government  from  the 
time  of  the  independence  of  the  country,  to  encourage  the  immigration 
of  foreigners,  because  Mexico  being  so  large  and  the  population  so 
scanty,  it  was  considered  a  necessity  to  promote  the  development  of 
the  country,  to  increase  the  population  by  inducing  the  settlement  of 
foreigners,  and  different  laws  have  been  issued  for  that  purpose. 

Since  the  restoration  of  the  Republic  new  laws  have  been  sanctioned 
to  encourage  colonization,  which  allow  colonists  and  the  companies 
bringing  them  free  importation  of  their  personal  goods  and  such  articles 


126  Oeoarapbtcal  Betes  on 

as  they  may  need  for  their  subsistence  and  welfare  for  a  reasonable  term 
of  years,  exempting  them  at  the  same  time  from  all  kinds  of  taxes — 
federal,  state,  and  municipal, — excepting  only  the  stamp  tax,  and  also 
exempting  them  from  military  and  other  personal  service,  and  some- 
times even  going  so  far  as  to  give  a  bounty  for  each  colonist  brought  to 
the  country.  Under  such  laws  several  contracts  were  made  with  differ- 
ent companies,  and  32  colonies  have  been  planted  in  different  sections 
of  Mexico,  of  which  13  have  been  established  by  the  government  and 
19  by  private  parties.  In  1892  there  were  only  1266  families  with  a 
total  number  of  10,985  colonists.  On  the  whole,  the  efforts  made  and 
the  expenses  incurred  by  the  Mexican  government  in  the  establish- 
ment of  those  settlements  of  colonists,  have  had  but  unsatisfactory 
results,  but  they  have  paved  the  way  for  future  experiments  on  a  larger 
scale,  especially  if  undertaken  by  private  parties,  and  with  only  such 
assistance  from  the  government  as  can  be  rendered  by  liberal  legisla- 
tion. 

The  principle  obstacle  which  has  prevented  us  from  having  a  large 
immigration  is  our  low  wages.  Those  who  immigrate  are  generally 
poor  wage  earners,  who  want  to  better  their  condition,  and  they  could 
not  go  to  a  country  where  wages  are  a  great  deal  lower  than  in  the 
United  States,  or  even  in  Europe,  as  they  could  never  compete  with 
the  native  labor  of  our  Indians.  We  have  now  a  surplus  of  labor  and 
a  deficit  of  capital,  and  cannot  have  a  large  immigration  until  such 
conditions  are  changed. 

What  Mexico  needs  is  capital  to  develop  her  resources  and  give 
employment  to  labor,  and  then  immigration  will  flow  in  as  naturally  as 
water  seeks  its  level.  Mexican  credit  will  be  established,  so  far  as  im- 
migration is  concerned,  when  her  natural  resources  are  developed,  this 
being  the  only  safe  and  reliable  basis  of  such  credit,  and  this  will  never 
be  developed  until  those  who  have  capital  to  invest  are  acquainted  with 
the  unparalleled  opportunities  for  safe  and  profitable  investment  in 
Mexico.  This  will  only  be  accomplished  by  plain,  blunt,  matter-of- 
fact  and  well-informed  press  agents,  who  lay  before  people  who  have 
money  to  invest  the  plain  facts  of  the  case. 

Immigration  from  the  United  States. — I  have  often  been  asked  for 
my  opinion  of  the  chances  of  Americans  going  to  settle  in  Mexico,  and 
have  always  answered  that  while  Mexico  is  desirous  of  attracting  good 
settlers,  and  while  that  country  undoubtedly  offers  great  inducements 
to  foreign  settlers,  especially  to  those  having  some  means,  there  are 
serious  drawbacks  which  ought  to  be  pointed  out  to  the  prospective 
immigrant  from  the  United  States,  as  a  warning  against  a  possible 
failure  and  disappointment. 

The  comforts  of  life  in  the  rural  districts  of  Mexico,  where  a  settler 
from  this  country  has  the  best  chances,  are  scanty  compared  with  simi- 


Ummfaration,  127 

lar  districts  in  the  United  States.  The  difference  of  race,  language, 
religion,  and  education  between  a  young  man  brought  up  in  this  country 
and  the  small  Mexican  farmers,  are  enough  to  create  difficulties  at  first 
sight  insuperable  to  any  young  man  from  the  United  States  who  settles 
there.  If  he  establishes  himself  in  a  district  inhabited  only  by  Indians 
these  difficulties  are  considerably  increased.  If  the  settler  prefers  the 
hot  lands,  which  are  the  most  fertile  and  productive,  the  severity  of 
the  climate  is  such  as  to  challenge  the  courage  of  the  bravest.  The 
mosquitoes  of  several  varieties,  the  flies,  and  many  other  insects  are 
very  annoying,  besides  the  sickness  inherent  to  such  climate. 

The  question  of  labor  is  another  great  difficulty  in  the  way,  because, 
while  it  is  cheap  and  abundant  in  the  cold  regions,  it  is  generally  scarce 
and  unreliable  in  the  hot  lands. 

The  conditions  of  the  two  countries  are  so  very  different  that  the 
change  experienced  by  one  brought  up  in  this  country  who  goes  into 
Mexico,  is  very  apt  to  discourage  the  strongest  and  most  sanguine,  at 
least  in  the  beginning,  as  the  lapse  of  time  makes  anybody  adapt  him- 
self to  existing  conditions  and  to  appreciate  the  advantages  of  his 
new  home. 

The  land  question  is  also  a  serious  objection.  A  large  portion  of 
the  public  lands  have  already  been  disposed  of,  and  comparatively 
little  of  the  public  and  private  lands  have  been  surveyed,  and  cannot 
easily  be  had  in  small  lots.  The  large  land-holders  are  unwilling  to 
divide  their  estates,  and  the  Indians  holding  large  tracts  of  land  are 
very  reluctant  to  part  with  them  at  any  price. 

Coffee  raising  is  undoubtedly  one  of  the  most  profitable  undertak- 
ings in  Mexico,  but  at  the  same  time  it  has  serious  drawbacks.  It 
takes  from  three  to  four  years  before  the  trees  begin  to  yield,  and  the 
planter  must  be  provided  with  sufficient  means  to  defray  not  only  his 
personal  expenses,  but  also  those  of  the  plantation,  like  houses, 
machinery,  cultivation,  etc.,  without  receiving  any  proceeds  until  the 
third  or  fourth  year.  Besides,  if  he  makes  any  mistake  in  the  selec- 
tion of  his  land,  his  profits  will  be  considerably  reduced.  The  gen- 
eral impression  prevailing  in  Mexico  is  that  coffee  is  the  product  of  the 
hot  lands,  where  the  coffee  trees  need  shade  ;  but  a  plantation  in  such 
lands  would  cost  a  great  deal  more  money  to  make  and  to  keep,  and 
would  yield  smaller  profits  than  one  located  in  the  temperate  zone, 
that  is,  just  below  the  frost  line.1 

1  The  same  views  were  expressed  in  Mexico  to  the  State  Department  by  the 
United  States  Consuls,  and  even  published  in  the  Consular  Reports  for  August,  1894, 
vol.  xlv.,  No.  167,  pp.  628,  629. 

"  Consular  advices  received  at  the  Department  of  State  warn  Americans  about 
emigrating  to  Mexico,  with  a  view  to  permanent  settlement,  with  insufficient  means  or 
without  informing  themselves  in  a  reliable  way  as  to  the  prospects  for  earning  liveli- 


<3eograpbical  Botes  on 

For  the  American  common  laborer  who  looks  to  his  day's  pay  for 
his  living,  Mexico  is  unquestionably  not  the  proper  place  to  go.  He 
cannot  compete  with  the  Mexican  laborer,  whose  usual  pay  is  from  38 
to  50  cents  a  day  in  silver,  and  he  boards  himself.  For  the  man  who 
has  no  means,  unless  he  is  especially  qualified  in  some  particular 
branch,  and  knows  something  of  the  language,  and  will  work  harder 
and  longer  hours,  it  is  no  place.  There  is  room  for  the  steady,  sober, 
industrious  mechanic  or  miner  or  tradesman  who  will  adapt  himself 
to  new  conditions  and  surroundings,  leave  all  social,  political,  and 
other  ambitions  behind  him,  and  who  will  attend  strictly  to  his  own 
business. 

Those  who  are  safest  in  going  to  Mexico  are  those  who  have  a 
little  capital,  say  from  $2000  in  gold  and  upward,  which  will  give  them 
about  twice  that  amount  there;  who  can  look  around  and  decide  what 
they  propose  to  do,  and  where  they  want  to  settle.  There  is  an  excel- 
lent field  for  the  small  general  farmer  of  the  New  England  or  Middle 
States  type,  who  will  raise  a  little  of  everything.  Butter,  potatoes, 
hogs,  poultry,  corn,  vegetables,  and  small  grain  find  a  ready  sale  at 
good  prices.  I  have  seen  the  common  article  of  corn,  which  is  nearly 
always  a  sure  crop,  sell  at  from  $i  to  $1.25  per  bushel,  Mexican  money. 

It  is  always  best  for  the  mechanic  or  miner  to  first  secure  a  job 
before  going  to  Mexico,  and  work  for  wages  several  months,  and  in 
the  meantime  study  the  situation,  get  acquainted  with  the  language, 
the  customs,  and  the  people  before  going  it  alone. 

The  manner  of  living  there  and  the  customs  of  the  people  are 
totally  different  from  those  of  the  United  States.  Those  going  there 
will  have  to  work  harder  and  longer  hours  than  in  the  United  States, 
but  they  can  save  money.  Ten  years  ago  Americans  went  to  Mexico 
to  make  money  and  return  to  the  United  States  ;  to-day  they  go  to 
find  homes.  I  know  several  Americans  who  would  not  live  in  the 
United  States  again. 

The  climate  of  Mexico  permits  a  man  to  work  every  day  in  the 
year.  The  cost  of  living  and  clothing  is  cheap,  and  a  dollar  in  Mexi- 
can money  can  be  made  to  go  as  far  there  as  a  dollar  in  American 
money  in  the  United  States,  and  a  dollar  there  is  easier  to  get. 

In  mining,  Mexico  offers  inducements  superior  to  any  other  coun- 

hoods.  While  there  are  undoubtedly  good  opportunities  in  Mexico  for  enterprise, 
frugality,  and  thrift,  it  is  like  other  countries,  a  land  of  varying  conditions,  and  it  often 
happens  that  disappointment  is  the  result  of  emigration  undertaken  upon  insufficient 
or  misleading  information,  or  without  resources,  which  are  always  necessary  for  success 
in  a  new  country.  Many  Americans  have  been  induced  by  alluring  statements  as  to 
the  cheapness  of  coffee  raising,  etc. ,  to  emigrate  to  Mexico  within  the  past  year,  and 
some  have  lost  their,  all  by  so  doing.  For  these  reasons  Consuls  desire  to  caution 
Americans  against  the  representations  of  speculators,  who  are  always  on  the  watch  for 
the  unwary." 


public  Debt  129 

try  ;  and  whether  a  man  has  a  thousand  dollars  or  a  million  he  can  go 
there  and  make  money  if  he  exercises  ordinary  precaution  and  judg- 
ment, and  if  he  makes  up  his  mind  to  stand  the  discomforts  of  the 
country.  It  is  a  good  country  for  the  prospector,  too,  because  there 
are  no  seasons  against  him,  and  there  are  many  new  fields  entirely  un- 
touched; but  he  needs  money  enough  to  get  there  with  and  enable  him 
to  obtain  the  proper  kind  of  outfit,  and  time  to  familiarize  himself 
with  the  requirements  of  the  law  and  select  some  district  in  which  he 
wants  to  operate. 

For  the  small  capitalist,  or  for  a  small  syndicate,  there  is  no  finer 
field  for  the  organizing  of  small  legitimate  companies  for  the  purposes 
of  opening  and  working  old  abandoned  mines,  which  are  filled  with 
debris  or  water,  and  which  it  will  pay  to  clean  out  and  work,  and 
of  which  there  are  still  many  to  be  had.  In  times  gone  by  they  were 
abandoned  because  of  the  refractory  condition  of  the  ores,  or  lack  of 
machinery,  or  want  of  transportation,  all  of  which  conditions  have  been 
removed.  There  is  also  a  fine  opening  for  capital  for  the  exploration 
of  the  new  gold-fields  in  the  vicinity  of  Guadalupe  y  Calvo,  in  the 
range  between  Sonora  and  Chihuahua,  in  the  State  of  Guerrero,  and 
in  many  other  localities. 

There  are  in  various  parts  of  Mexico  educated,  experienced,  and 
thoroughly  reliable  Americans  to  be  found,  who  have  lived  a  long 
while  in  the  country,  and  know  the  language,  the  laws,  and  the  people, 
and  would  be  willing  to  give  reliable  information  to  young  Americans 
wishing  to  go  there. 

PUBLIC    DEBT. 

The  public  debt  of  Mexico  is  represented  by  bonds  drawing  differ- 
ent rates  of  interest,  some  payable  in  gold  and  others  in  silver.  In 
1825,  very  soon  after  our  independence,  we  contracted  two  loans  in 
London,  both  for  10,000,000  pounds  sterling,  which  we  mainly  used  for 
buying  war-ships  and  war  material.  On  account  of  the  disturbed  con- 
dition of  the  country,  the  interest  on  that  debt  could  not  be  paid  punc- 
tually, and  the  bonds  naturally  fell  to  a  very  low  nominal  price.  In 
1851,  after  the  war  with  the  United  States,  we  refunded  that  debt  in 
new  bonds,  the  interest  of  which  was  reduced  from  5  to  3  per  cent, 
which  we  expected  to  pay  punctually,  but  the  disturbed  condition  of 
the  country  made  it  impossible  for  us  to  do  it.  Finally,  in  1888,  the 
debt  was  readjusted  and  gold  bonds  bearing  6  per  cent,  interest  issued, 
and  as  we  have  paid  since  punctually  the  interest,  they  have  reached  par. 

We  had  issued  bonds  from  1849  to  1856  to  pay  claims  of  English, 
French,  and  Spanish  subjects  under  certain  conventions  signed  with 
those  countries,  and  such  bonds  were  exchanged  at  different  rates  for 
the  6  per  cent,  gold  bonds  of  our  foreign  debt. 

VOL.  I — Q 


130  Geograpbical  notes  on 

To  build  the  Tehuantepec  Railway  we  negotiated  in  London,  in 
1888,  another  gold  loan  for  3,000,000  pounds  sterling  at  5  per  cent, 
interest. 

The  subsidies  granted  to  railway  companies  were  payable  in  sil- 
ver, with  a  percentage  of  our  import  duties,  but  as  they  amounted  to 
a  considerable  sum  their  payment  reduced  the  revenue  considerably, 
and  the  Mexican  Government  contracted  in  London  in  1890  a  gold 
loan  at  6  per  cent,  interest,  with  which  it  paid  the  subsidies  due  up  to 
that  date  to  most  of  the  railway  companies. 

We  had  to  issue  besides  in  1850  what  we  call  domestic  or  interior 
bonds,  at  3  and  5  per  cent,  interest  in  silver,  and  we  had  other  indebt- 
edness of  several  kinds,  caused  by  loans  and  other  sources  when  the 
revenue  of  the  Government  was  not  enough  to  pay  its  expenses.  All 
such  debts  have  been  consolidated  into  new  bonds  of  3  and  5  per 
cent,  interest,  payable  in  silver.  Such  railway  subsidies  as  were  not 
paid  out  of  the  proceeds  of  the  loan  of  1890  have  been  paid  with  bonds 
drawing  5  per  cent,  interest,  paying  both  capital  and  interest  in  silver. 

It  is  very  onerous  for  Mexico  when  it  is  on  a  silver  basis  to  pay  in 
gold  the  interest  of  its  foreign  debt,  because  we  have  to  buy  gold  at 
current  prices,  and  it  costs  us  now  more  than  double  its  current  price. 
When  silver  was  about  50  cents  on  the  dollar,  as  compared  with  gold, 
6  per  cent,  interest  of  our  foreign  debt,  cost  us  12  per  cent.,  and  of 
course  the  further  silver  is  depreciated  the  greater  will  be  the  cost  of 
paying  the  interest  of  our  gold  debts. 

President  Diaz  gives  in  his  report  of  November  30, 1896,  the  follow- 
ing data  about  the  cost  to  the  Mexican  Treasury  of  buying  exchange 
to  place  in  London  the  funds  to  pay  us  the  gold  interest  on  our  foreign 
debt  : 

Fiscal  year  1888-1889 $    729,178.17 

"  1890-1891 2,314,477.77 

1891-1892 3,225,246.77 

1892-1893 5,101,223.57 

In  the  second  part  of  this  paper  I  will  give  a  detailed  statement 
showing  the  different  kinds  of  bonds  and  obligations  which  constitute 
the  Mexican  debt,  and  here  will  only  give  the  figures  of  the  total 
amount,  which  are  the  following  : 

Sterling  Mexican  debt $114,675,895.49 

Debt  payable  in  silver 88,549,111.80 


Total $203,225,007.29 

It  is  not  possible  to  fix  the  exact  amount  of  the  debt  of  Mexico, 
either  in  silver  or  gold,  because  of  the  daily  changes  in  the  price  of 


131 

silver  ;  but  as  silver  is  the  currency  of  the  country,  when  the  Mexican 
dollar  is  worth  24  pence  in  London,  the  amount  of  our  debt  in  silver 
would  be  equal  to  our  sterling  debt,  that  is  :  $114,675,895.40  added  to 
our  debt  will  make  a  grand  total  in  Mexican  silver  of  $317,900,902.78. 

BANKING. 

Banking  in  Mexico  is  in  its  incipient  state.  The  National  Bank  of 
Mexico,  established  in  the  City  of  Mexico  in  1882,  with  its  branches 
in  the  principal  cities  of  the  country,  has  a  monopoly  for  the  issuing  of 
notes  in  the  capital  which  is  only  shared  by  such  banks  as  were  in  ex- 
istence before  the  National  Bank  of  Mexico  was  chartered,  like  the 
Bank  of  London,  Mexico,  and  South  America,  established  during  the 
French  intervention  in  Mexico  and  recently  remodelled  under  the 
name  of  the  Bank  of  London  and  Mexico.  The  Mortgage  Bank  of 
Mexico  enjoys  that  privilege  also. 

On  June  3,  1896,  a  general  banking  law  was  issued  by  the  Mexican 
Congress,  which  establishes  the  conditions  under  which  banking  insti- 
tutions can  be  organized  ;  but,  of  course,  that  does  not  affect  the  rights 
of  the  National  Bank  and  other  banks  in  the  City  of  Mexico  which 
had  been  chartered  before  the  date  of  that  law. 

Formerly,  owing  to  the  expense  and  dangers  of  transportation,  it 
was  difficult  to  transport  money  from  one  place  to  another,  and  there- 
fore exchange  between  cities  in  Mexico  was  very  high,  sometimes  even 
ten  per  cent,  from  one  city  to  another  in  the  country.  The  rate  has 
been  reduced  considerably  since  the  railroads  were  built,  but  it  is  still 
quite  high.  To  draw  money  from  the  City  of  Mexico  to  the  City  of 
Oaxaca,  for  instance,  and  vice  versa,  costs  now  one  per  cent,  each  way  ; 
when  money  is  required  to  be  sent  to  smaller  places  the  expenses  are 
much  higher,  as  it  is  necessary  to  send  a  man  to  the  nearest  town 
where  the  money  can  be  placed  by  the  banks,  and  pay  to  him  a  large 
commission — the  expenses  sometimes  reaching  ten  per  cent.  To  keep 
up  this  rate  of  exchange  the  National  Bank  makes  its  bills  payable  at 
a  certain  place  so  that  they  cannot  be  paid  at  any  other. 

Banking  is  very  profitable  in  Mexico.  The  following  is  a  statement 
of  the  earnings  and  dividends  of  the  National  Bank  of  Mexico,  which 
began  with  a  capital  of  $3,000,000,  increased  since  to  $6,000,000,  hav- 
ing now  a  reserve  fund  of  $5,500,000,  and  is  owned  almost  exclusively 
by  Mexicans,  being  the  fiscal  agent  of  the  Government : 


NET  PROFITS. 

DIVIDENDS. 

1801.  . 

$1,813,623 

23  per  cent. 

1802                                                                 ... 

1,839,418 

23    " 

180-;.  .                                                   

2,355,464 

29    "       " 

1804. 

1,961,801 

24    "       " 

*  vt  

1805.  . 

2,2OO,626 

27    "       " 

132 


Geograpbtcal  Botes  on 


The  following  is  a  statement,  from  official  sources,  of  the  earnings 
and  dividends  of  the  Bank  of  London  and  Mexico.  Up  to  1891  it 
had  a  capital  of  $1,500,000,  which  was  then  increased  to  $3,000,000  : 


NET  PROFITS. 

DIVIDENDS    EARNED, 
PER  CENT. 

DIVIDENDS  DECLARED, 
PER  CENT. 

1880.. 

$243,246 

16 

IO 

1800.  . 

c6q  im 

16 

2O 

vw  
1801.  . 

7O3  $22 

46 

2O 

1802 

780  067 

26 

16 

i8cn   . 

618  6<n 

2Oi 

16 

1804.  . 

603  178 

2O 

14. 

180"? 

ec7  710 

184 

Id. 

Recently  the  capital  stock  of  this  bank  was  further  increased  to 
$10,000,000,  without  any  expense  to  the  stockholders,  as  the  reserve 
fund,  which  amounted  to  about  $2,000,000,  was  used  to  complete  the 
new  capital,  and  was  issued  to  the  regular  stockholders  as  a  stock 
dividend.  The  balance  to  complete  the  $5,000,000  of  new  stock  was 
offered  to  the  public,  the  subscriptions  amounting  to  $22,000,000,  or 
$17,000,000  more  than  was  wanted. 

From  this  statement  it  will  be  seen  that  the  existing  banks  are 
prosperous  and  in  a  flourishing  condition,  but  the  demand  for  in- 
creased banking  facilities  is  such  that  new  banks  are  being  formed, 
and  the  operations  of  the  old  banks  increased  and  extended  in  various 
directions. 

PATENTS    AND    TRADE-MARKS. 

Patents. — On  June  7,  1890,  the  present  patent  law  of  Mexico  was 
issued,  and  its  provisions  are  very  similar  to  the  respective  laws  exist- 
ing in  this  country. 

Since  the  date  of  that  law  the  following  patents  have  been  issued 
by  our  Department  of  Fomento  : 


YEARS. 

PATENTS. 

INCREASE. 

DIMINUTION. 

1800.  . 

63 

1801. 

IC-2 

QO 

1802.           

168 

15 

180'?  

122 

46 

1804. 

125 

q 

1  "  VT-  
iSos.  . 

1^4 

20 

785 

Trade- Marks. — On  November  28,  1889,  our  present  law  regulating 
trade-marks  was  promulgated,  and  since  then  the  following  trade- 
marks have  been  issued  by  the  Department  of  Fomento  : 


Sbfppfna. 


133 


YEARS. 

TRADE-MARKS. 

INCREASE. 

DIMINUTION. 

Q7 

112 

15 

.... 

161 

49 

.... 

108 

53 

79 

.... 

29 

91 

12 

648 

SHIPPING. 

The  mercantile  marine  of  Mexico  in  1895  comprised  52  steamers 
and  222  sailing  vessels.  The  shipping  included  also  many  small  ves- 
sels engaged  in  the  coasting  trade. 

In  1893-94,  in  the  foreign  trade,  1237  vessels  of  1,314,625  tons 
entered,  and  1211  vessels  of  1,296,834  tons  cleared  the  ports  of  Mexico. 
In  the  coasting  trade  7721  of  1,623,371  tons  entered  and  7708  of 
1,592,754  tons  cleared.  In  1894-95,  in  the  foreign  and  coasting  trade, 
there  entered  9575  vessels  of  3,428,973  tons,  and  cleared  9557  of 
3,359,684  tons. 

In  the  statistical  portion  of  this  chapter  I  will  give  official  informa- 
tion about  the  number  of  vessels  and  their  tonnage,  which  have  entered 
and  cleared  from  Mexican  ports  in  recent  years,  the  nations  from  which 
they  came,  and  other  valuable  data. 

MONEY,  WEIGHTS,  AND  MEASURES. 

The  standard  of  value  is  silver.  There  is  no  paper  currency  except 
ordinary  bank  notes. 

The  silver  peso  or  dollar  of  100  centavos  is  the  unit  of  coin  in 
Mexico. 

The  silver  peso  weighs  27.073  grammes,  .902  fine,  and  thus  contains 
24.419  grammes  of  fine  silver. 

The  lo-pesos  gold-piece  weighs  27.0643  grammes,  .875  fine,  and 
thus  contains  23.6813  grammes  of  fine  gold. 

The  weights  and  measures  of  the  metric  system  were  introduced  in 
1856  ;  but  the  Indians  and  other  ignorant  people  use  the  old  Spanish 
measures.  The  principal  ones  are  these  : 


Weight.— 


for  Gold  and  Silver. — 


Length. — 


libra=o.46  kilogramme,  1.014  Ibs.  avoirdupois. 
arroba=25  libras,  25.357  Ibs.  avoirdupois. 
marco=:£  libra,  4,608  granos. 
ochava=62  tomines. 
tomin=i2  granos. 
20  granos— I  French  gramme, 
vara— 0.837  metre  =  2  ft.  8-^  English  inches, 
legua  comun  (i  common  league)  =  5,000  yards, 
legua  marina  (i  marine  league)  =  6,666f  yards. 


134  Geograpbical  IRotes  on 

NON-OFFICIAL    PUBLICATIONS. 

The  following  is  a  partial  and  rather  incomplete  list  of  (principally 
English)  books  about  Mexico  : 

ABBOTT,  GORHAM  D.,  Mexico  and  the  United  States.     New  York,  1869. 

BANCROFT,  H.  H.,  A  Popular  History  of  the  Mexican  People.,  8.  London. 
Resources  and  Development  of  Mexico.  San  Francisco,  1894. 

BROCKLEHURST,  T.  U.,  Mexico  To-day.     London,  1883. 

BURKE,  U.  R.,  Life  of  Benito  Juarez.     8.     London,  1894. 

CASTRO,  LORENZO,  The  Republic  of  Mexico  in  1882.     New  York,  1882. 

CHARNAY,  D.,  Ancient  Cities  of  the  New  World.     Tr.     8.     London. 

CHEVALIER,  MICHEL,  Le  Mexique  ancien  et  moderns.     18.     Paris,  1886. 

CONKLING,  HOWARD,  Mexico  and  the  Mexicans.     New  York,  1883. 

CONKLING,  A.  R.  Appleton's  Guide  to  Mexico.     New  York,  1890. 

CRAWFORD,  CORA  HAYWARD,  The  Land  of  the  Montezumas.     New  York,  1889. 

CuBAS,  ANTONIO  GARCIA,  Mexico,  its  Trade,  Industries,  and  Resources. 
Mexico,  1893. 

FLINT,  H.  M.,  Mexico  under  Maximilian.     12.     Philadelphia,  1867. 

GLONER,  PROSPER,  Les  Finances  des  Etats  Unis  Mexicains.     Bruxelles,  1895. 

GOOCH,  F.  C.,  Face  to  Face  with  the  Mexicans.     London,  1890. 

GRIFFIN,  S.  B.,  Mexico  of  To-day.     New  York,  1886. 

HAMILTON,  LEONIDAS,  Border  States  of  Mexico.     Chicago,  1882. 

HAMILTON,  L.  L.  C.,  Hamilton's  Mexican  Handbook.     London,  1884. 

JANVIER,  THOMAS  A.,  The  Mexican  Guide.     New  York,  1886. 

KOZHEVAR,  E.,  Report  on  the  Republic  of  Mexico.     London,  1886. 

LA  BEDOLLIERE,  EMILE  G.  DE,  Histoire  de  la  guerre  du  Mexique.    4.    Paris,  1866. 

LESTER,  C.  EDWARDS,  The  Mexican  Republic.     New  York,  1878. 

NOLL,  ARTHUR  HOWARD,  A  Short  History  of  Mexico.     Chicago,  1890. 

OBER,  F.  A.,  Travels  in  Mexico.     Boston,  U.  S.,  1884. 

PRESCOTT,  W.  H.,  History  of  the  Conquest  of  Mexico.     8.     London. 

RATZEL,  FRIED.,  A  us  Mexico,  Reiseskizzen  aus  den  Jahren  1874-73.  Breslau, 
1878. 

RICE,  JOHN  N.,  Mexico,  Our  Neighbor.     New  York.     (No  date.) 

ROUTIER,  G.,  Le  Mexique  de  nos  Jours.     Paris,  1895. 

SCHROEDER,  SEATON,  The  Fall  of  Maximilian's  Empire  as  seen  from  a  United 
States  Gunboat.  New  York,  1887. 

SCOBEL,  A.,  "  Die  Verkehrswege  Mexicos  und  ihre  wirtschaftliche  Bedeutung." 
In  Deutsche  Geographisc he  Blatter.  Band  X,  Heft  I.  Bremen,  1887. 

Through  the  Land  of  the  Aztecs  ;  or,  Life  and  Travel  in  Mexico.  By  a 
"  Gringo."  London,  1892. 

WELLS,  DAVID  A.,  A  Study  of  Mexico.     New  York,  1887. 


PART  II. 

STATISTICS 


135 


II.    STATISTICS. 

I  do  not  know  of  any  publication  in  which  the  latest  statistical  in- 
formation about  Mexico  is  compiled  in  a  concise  and  complete  form. 
One  which  perhaps  is  the  fullest,  published  in  Berlin  by  Messrs. 
Puttkammer  &  Muhlbrecht,  entitled  Les  Finances  des Etats-Unis  Mexi- 
cains,  written  by  Mr.  Prosper  Gloner,  contains  a  great  deal  more 
statistical  information  than  others,  and  is  of  later  date. 

It  has  requii^fa  great  deal  of  work,  energy,  and  time  on  my  part 
to  collect  the  data  contained  in  this  paper,  most  of  which  is  of  an 

rial  character,  and  I  am  sure  it  is  the  most  complete  ever  published, 
I  having  tried  to  make  it  very  concise,  so  as  to  take  the  smallest 
space  possible. 

REVENUES    AND   EXPENSES. 

The  financial  question  was  for  many  years  the  leading  and  the 
most  difficult  one  in  Mexico,  because  the  urgent  needs  of  the  Treasury, 
especially  on  account  of  the  disturbed  condition  of  the  country,  made 
public  expenses  considerably  exceed  the  revenue,  and  this  condition 
did  not  allow  of  a  thorough  overhauling  and  settlement  of  the  finances, 
nor  did  it  contribute  to  establish  the  credit  of  the  Government  ;  but 
peace  having  prevailed  since  1877,  a  great  improvement  has  taken  place 
in  the  financial  condition  of  Mexico  ;  the  revenue  has  increased  con- 
siderably, and  it  has  finally  reached  an  amount  amply  sufficient  to  pay 
all  our  expenses.  In  fact,  at  the  end  of  the  fiscal  year,  ended  June 
30,  1896,  we  had  for  the  first  time  in  the  history  of  Mexico  since  its 
independence,  a  surplus  which  amounted  to  $6,000,000.  The  obnoxious 
tax  which  we  inherited  from  the  Spanish,  called  alcabalas,  or  interstate 
duties  on  domestic  and  foreign  commerce,  was  a  great  drawback  to 
internal  trade,  was  finally  abolished  on  July  i,  1896  ;  and  the  country 
being  now  in  a  condition  when  radical  reforms  can  be  introduced 
without  serious  disturbances. 

Our  expenses  as  an  independent  nation  are  necessarily  large,  and 
as  a  comparatively  small  portion  of  our  population  are  really  producers 

137 


138  Statistical  Iftotes  on 

of  wealth,  upon  them  lies  the  whole  burden  of  such  expenses  ;  that  is, 
we  are  a  nation  of  from  twelve  to  fifteen  millions  of  inhabitants,  with 
a  very  large  territory  and  a  large  coast  on  both  oceans,  requiring  army, 
revenue,  light-house,  and  police  service,  and  other  expensive  institu- 
tions proportionate  to  such  extent  and  population,  when  the  portion 
which  contribute  to  such  expenses  is  only  about  one-fourth  or  one-third 
of  the  same. 

It  is  a  very  difficult  task  to  give  a  complete  and  correct  statement 
of  the  revenues  and  expenses  of  the  Mexican  Government  prior  to  the 
year  1867.  The  disturbed  condition  of  the  country  made  it  often 
quite  impossible  to  keep  any  account  at  all :  such  was  the  case  especially 
from  1858  to  1860,  as  during  that  period  the  City  of  Mexico  and  a 
large  part  of  the  country  was  occupied  by  the  Church  party  under 
Miramon,  and  from  1863  to  1867  by  the  French  Intervention.  Be- 
sides that  cause  it  was  a  very  difficult  matter  for  us  to  keep  a  correct 
account  of  public  receipts  and  expenses,  in  some  way  for  lack  of  a  good 
system  of  book-keeping.  To  make  a  statement  of  the  revenues  and 
expenses  of  the  Mexican  Government  since  the  independence  of  the 
country  from  Spain,  I  had  to  rely  upon  the  reports  made  by  Secretaries 
of  the  Treasury,  which  are,  however,  lacking  for  many  years,  and  which 
contain  rather  an  estimate  than  an  account  of  the  revenues  and  ex- 
penses, and  I  have  made  in  that  way  the  statement  which  I  append 
under  No.  i,  which  embraces  the  revenues  and  expenses  from  the  year 
1808,  the  last  of  the  Spanish  rule  in  Mexico,  to  the  year  1867. 

The  forming  of  accounts  was  under  the  charge  of  the  Federal 
Treasury  of  Mexico,  and  the  Treasury  kept  its  accounts  with  a  very 
defective  system  of  book-keeping,  which  prevented  them  from  being 
correct.  To  remedy  that  difficulty,  after  the  restoration  of  the  Repub- 
lic in  1867,  a  bureau  of  accounts  was  established  in  the  Treasury  De- 
partment, but  its  accounts  were  seldom  correct,  because  it  did  not 
have  the  necessary  detailed  data  to  make  a  complete  account,  and,  as 
could  be  expected,  the  results  in  the  accounts  of  both  bureaus  differ 
widely. 

In  1880  the  Federal  Treasury  was  reorganized  with  a  large  number 
of  clerks  with  a  view  to  keep  a  full  and  correct  account  of  public 
moneys,  and  from  that  year  until  1888  their  accounts  began  to  be 
better  than  before.  In  1888  the  system  was  still  remodelled  and  im- 
proved, and  since  then  that  office  has  been  able  to  keep  correct  and 
complete  accounts  of  our  public  revenues  and  expenses. 

I  also  append  a  statement  No.  2  of  the  revenues  and  expenses 
of  the  Mexican  Treasury  from  July  i,  1867,  to  June  30,  1888.  The 
first  thirteen  years  in  that  statement  are  taken  from  the  data  furnished 
by  the  Bureau  of  Accounts  of  our  Treasury  Department.  The  account 
of  the  year  1879-1880  was  taken  from  the  account  of  the  Federal 


IRevenue  an&  Expenses* 


139 


Treasury,  and  the  data  for  the  year  1880-1881  from  the  accounts  pub- 
lished by  the  Liquidating  Bureau  established  by  the  Mexican  Govern- 
ment to  close  the  old  accounts  and  open  the  new  ones  under  the  new 
system.  The  accounts  of  the  year  1888-1889,  which  appear  in  state- 
ment No.  3,  are  all  taken  from  the  Federal  Treasury  of  Mexico,  and 
are  complete  and  correct. 

I  also  append  a  statement  of  the  appropriations  approved  by  the 
Federal  Congress  during  the  fiscal  years  from  1868  to  1895.  The 
actual  expenses  never  exceeded  the  appropriations  and  the  revenue 
was  generally  below  them. 

NO.    I. — REVENUE   AND    EXPENSES    OF    THE    FEDERAL    GOVERNMENT    OF 
MEXICO   IN    1808    AND    FROM    1822    TO    JUNE   30,    1867. 


REVENUE. 

EXPENSES. 

1808  Colonial  period      

$2O  075  362  25 

1822  Independence  period  

9Q28  74O  OO 

$13  4SS  377  OO 

l823.  , 

c  240  8s8  06 

3  O3O  878  SO 

1824.   ...    

IS  2S4  6oi  O3 

15  165  876  OS 

1825  to  Sept.  ist  

7QO3  l6^  4.2 

13  IIO  l87  24. 

Sept.  i,  1825,  to  June  30,  1826  

14.  77O  733  3O 

13,112  2OO  65 

1826—27      .   .  . 

17  017  016  59 

1  6  364  218  36 

1827-28  

iq  644.  Q74  60 

12  982  092  86 

1828-29  

14  SQ3  3O7  60 

14  Ol6  Q78  27 

1820-30.  . 

14  IO^  773  28 

13,728  4QI  3Q 

l8^O-3I   .  .  . 

1  8  3Q2  134  06 

17  601  289  67 

1831-32.  - 

17  ^82  O2Q  IS 

l6  Q37  384  6? 

1832-33  

2O  563  360  77 

22.3Q2  6O7  QO 

1833—  34. 

21  124  216  81 

IQ  Q34  4QO  42 

1834-35  

l8  3S3  283  OO 

12  724  686  62 

183^-36 

26  382  3O3  9O 

17  766  262  81 

1836-37  .  . 

17  327  7o6  IS 

IQ  l8l  138  OS 

1837-38.  . 

25  018  121  77 

26  s88  3os  03 

1830 

2Q  136  S36  64 

27  3l8  72O  73 

1840  

21  227  263  43 

21  23S  OQ7  67 

1841  

23  one  766  S2 

22  QQ7  22O  l8 

1842  

3O.682  360  4O 

3O  63Q  711  OO 

1843  . 

34  138  s8l  72 

34  O3S  277  13 

1844  

31  873  OIQ  47 

31  26o  22S  87 

1845. 

24  ISO  OSO  O4 

19  584  812  91 

1846 

24  O26  Q38  36 

27  §4S  487  28 

1847  

26  154  222  84 

31  2SI  467  QI 

1848  to  June  30,  1849  

25.726  737  23 

10,742.876  48 

1840—  50 

l8  281  83S  38 

17  2QI  233  2S 

i8fio-<i 

14  QSS  535  73 

14  477  360  06 

1851-52  

II  022,291  17 

10,475,686  10 

1852-53  

10,044,298  40 

16,287,532  90 

1853-54 

IQ  028  Q75  OO 

18  726  088  oo 

1854-55.  . 

26  25Q.Q7O  45 

23  306  O74  75 

i855-s6 

jc  SSS  SQ7  47 

12  Q2O  2S7  6S 

1856-0.  . 

1  6  035  609  8  1 

12  Q77  26S  QO 

1857-58  

I  5  520,887  47 

15  927  IO2  OI 

1858-50 

14  737  763  76 

16  oos  S36  4S 

1859-60  

14  306  675  28 

l6  S8Q  O34  47 

1860-61  

12  863,500  OO 

12  75O  SOO  OO 

1861-62  

15,500,000  oo 

15,300  600  oo 

1862-63  

17  600  ooo  oo 

17  SOS  6oO  OO 

1863-64  

7,000,000  oo 

6  990  ooo  oo 

1864-65  

5  QSO  OOO  OO 

5Q4S  OOO  OO 

1865-66  

5  O57  SOO  OO 

S  OS3  2SO  OO 

1866-67  

8,092,000  oo 

8  085,200  oo 

140 


Statistical  IRotes  on 


00 
CO 
00 


M  N  t  N  r^  coo  m  N  M  co  r^  in  oco 
inM  r>  t  N  m  M   ottmmi-i 

co  tcococo  o  w  OO  ttmO  M  M  or-^co  moo 
M  N  N  co  r^co  m  r>>O  co  i^-  O  OO  O  t  t~»  O  O  co  M 
M  O  O  N  t  m  r^  co  00  co  NCOCOCO  r->.  o  tec  mo  m 

•<j  o"  N"  m  N"CO~O"O"  r^N  mmo  w  NO  N"O   N   o'oo   O 

co  O  M  N  r-»co  OO  N  N  t  t-1  comot"-"  tOtO 
0  r-.cc  mo   ocONCoeoNmcotNMOt  OO  co  m 

M  O  coco  r^       co  r^  t  t  t  m 
i  cb  m  to  co  co       M  coco  t^  O  co 

coOtONt-*OOM\r>       o  co  t  N  t 

9*                     r-C  i-T  rC  r^  r^  t-Tco"  i-T  mco"  o"  Q"  00"  mo  m  N 

PL*                                        t  t  m  N   eooo  t  t  N  M  oOmOcONoom 

O  mo  co  co  O  N  O   >-   t  Mv°^  "*O^  m  m  O^  m 

cfcfcotttcOinOM  in  t  co  M  o  m  O 

6 

in  m  coco  co  t  b  "F-  >->  N  w  M  co  M  N  N  M  1 1 
co   O  w  to  O  t^  w  co   comOco   M   tOOcO  N  t 

u  »rt  r>  o'  "-Too"  00"  t  co  o'co"  M"  N"  m  N*  t  r-C  t  N"O" 

p,  <o  O  co  N  mo  co  r->co  N  O  co  O  Oco  M  Q  o  O  m 

co  m  m  mo"  r^co'oo"1  O  r^  o"  t  O  t^  N  to 

^ 

O  M  N  oo  t  mco  tmococoNco  r^N  mco  co  r^-co 
M  o  M  co  r-^co  Oco  M  cottcOMco  tmi-tco  mN 

co  to  mco  o  O  eooo  CON  CON  r-^o  m  r^  o  M  i-» 
eo  m  co  N  Ix»  N  eo  O  eo  t  OO  O  t™*  O  M  O  O  t  N  in 
m  N  r^  co  r^o  co  or-mM  CON  cotw  NO  oow 

O  mco'co"  eoi-Tr-^co  to  OtM~  Oco"o"  t  cf  i~^  r^  o 
coo  o  O  oo  t  N  t^co  in  m  r^  r»  r^co  M  m  r^  eo  r^  o 
r*^  t  co  t^  O  M  N  r^»  O  M  t  N  **  co  co  m  r**.  in  ci  r^»  t 
rC  o"  o"  oo"  O  o"  IH"  w"  M"  co  O  O  N"  in  o"  eo  CO*"  o"  eo  t-T  o" 
MMMMMNdNNNNNNNtt  mO  O  M  in 
«fr 

too  N  M  1-1  r^  N 
r^o  t  O  mco  r^ 

coo  O  O  co  r^  eo 
r^co   o  N  O  coo 

rt  coco  r-^o  N  o 

O  co  co  o  co  co  t 

1  N    tO  O    CO  O 

O"  eo  cf  N"  N"O"  t 

O  O«co  tOO  eoO  coo  or-«ootcoM  coco 
O  m  r^«  M  o  i-t  N  Oco  M  ocoO  cotco  OOO  co 

*3  £  M  M   o  t  OO  Oco  coco  tmco  N  r^o^-r-  «--j 

ONOONMONCOOMi-iOOCONOOOt 
,  ..i  Oco   eo  m  O  O  t^O  co  N   M  o   Oco  O  in  m  m  N"  co 

O"  O  t^  coco  co  O  OO  O  f^  M  coco  co  N  co  r^  N  O  co 

cjC  MOONr-^omNt  r^co  OO  M  N  tN  or-«t 

*"*  t~t  t  coo"  m  m  r^  r-^  i-^co"  o  r^  M"  to"  r-^co"  co  M"  cf  m 

MHMMMMMMMMMNN  M     CO  CO  t^  CO 

m  co  r^o  I-OOCON  OOr^eo>-«tmo  to  r^  eo 

N  to  to  tr^w  N  inr-^r^teoM  intmom 
totO  r^eoO  O  mr^-inN  OO  O  OO  tec  mo 

\n  O  too"  N"  f^  M"CO"  i-To"  eo  in  oo"  o"  M"  O~  o"o"  N" 
mw  r^OO  Noo  M  too  o  coco  o  m  N  o  co  NO 

ef  N"  N"  co  t  co  t  co  t  o  M"      M"  o"  N"  r>^  o"  co*  N"  o" 

«  COCOCOtONCOt 

co  o  O  M  w  eo  t  mo  r-.co  o  O  M  N  eo  t  mo  rAcd 
O  O  t^»  r-.  r^«  r-*  r-»  r-.  r^.  i^«  r*^  r^co  co  co  oo  co  co  co  co  co 
cocococococococooococococococococooocococo 

iiiiiiTTiiiiTiTiiT-TiT 

r^co  o  O  w  N  co  t  mo  f^co  o  O  M  N  co  t  mo  r>. 
OOO  r^-r^r~>.t-»r^r^r^r-*i>i  r»co  co  co  co  co  co  co  co 

COCOCOOOCOCOCOOOCOCOOOCOCOCOCOCOCOOSICOCOCO 


•Revenue  an&  Expenses. 


141 


vS  : 
3j*2 


g, 

o> 

1H 

o. 


$11 

I 


* 


$$. 


? 


I 


I 


&£ 


8^ 


1 


3 


:** 


00        £.JO 
ft      S.03 


J 


feo  -• 


f 

m* 


I* 


* 


ft 
ii 
Is' 


" 


1 


1 


IPS- 

°n?.o> 

.•*  "LW. 


0? 


M     8"  "i 


|; 

8  : 


I  I 


142 


Statistical  IRotes  on 


S  S^'S.tfS.S'S  2 £"2  a 


oo"ocT  d"  pT  N  ro  ^  ^  10  ^  H^OO"  ro  to  tC  &  1000"  **  \O~co  \Ocooo  H"  ^  10 

~MP»<NP»PJN(NP»HNHP)P»NfONrOrOrOrOrOrOrO'«-'«-'«- 


-S1 


VO    «  OO    N    0« 
OO   O-*>^iO 


ro  N  00    IO  PI    rOOO 
• 


O    •*  tx  tx.  tx  tx  rx.  e»    « 

ON-^-roO    <OVO  OO   CO 


o  oo  M 
;  rov£  vO   1000   tx  d  vo   tx,  10  c*  0   Tj-rotx-Tt-t-x-^-i-ivq^o^  >-^vo^  \q_vq_ 

ro  •£  ~  "        ~  "      • 


•*  o  •<»-  M  H   N  vo  1000  co  t^  o  r-\O  10  w  M 
of  *o"co  o"  o'  o"  o"  o"  o'^'oo'co'  (Scoaocooo 


z.! 

K 


]l 


i 


8883-88888888  SS^ 


c^o  M 
0>  5>  ^-l 
w  o  ro 
" 


ro  •*•*•*  «£  10  in*o  cT  cT  M" 


.- 

^o  to  *o  o"  eT  w"  cT  10 
N  vo   •*•  M   rx  10  «  M 
^  ^  M   ro>O  &ioo  vo 
" 


OOO    COOO    -*lOt^rOOOO 
o"  ro  •*  cT  to  ro  >?  pT  M'OO' 
- 


ro  cs  c  woo  ^  p  »o  10  M  t\ 
,  iovo  Q-^0  M  co  S  10  rooo  ro  i<-  «  ^ 
o>O>OP»  IO^-«OM  e«  p»  ro^t-PI  - 


«o-*-*oo 
«   inoo  00   10 


>o  c> 

O>oo 


PlvoOroiOtxroOv 
vO  <S  rooo  C>>  M  oo  t-«v 
t^  tx  O  txvo  10  ^-  ro  1 


8  8  8  8  8  8  8  8  8  8  8  8  8  8  8  8  8  &&  8  S  E  £  S>  8>  8- S> 


8  § 


^!?^  8  8 


cc.orororororo,     ^ 
oorowMHMMMHM  1000  oo  oo  oo  co  oo  «  wooo 
«  vo  oo;oo  oo  oo  «  oo  oo  oo  oo  oo  co  «  oo  co  co 


^ 


8  2vS  fLSS  5- 

HVO   M   P     ro  ro  PC 


1010 


ro  iov6  M  M  K  V  «<  ?  to  loco  NOf-wcoQioQioOioOioQ 
tx  t^  t^oo  oo  oo  oo  o.  q.  ON  q,  o  q.  o<  o^  o.  q.  q.  q.  q.  q.  q.  q.  q.  q.  q. 


Q*  O   '-'   W   ro  -*f  10*0   f>-co   O  O   M    N   ro  -^-  ir>O   t>-oO   O\  O    M    N   co  ^j-  ID  . 

\O    t*N.t>-t-^r>»t^t^t^.tN.t-s.  h-vOO  OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO    O^OCJ^OC^O*  tf) 

TOoococwooooooooobooooSSS^OT^c^^^^^^^^^^  13 

\O  'O    t^t^.t-^t^fN.t-^.t^.tN.I^  t^OO  OOOOOOOOOOOOCOOOOO    O^O^OO  ^H 

oooococ»oooocooooooo<xcocooooooooococooocooooooooooooo 


TRevenue  anfc  Expenses.  143 

Sources  of  Revenue. — The  Federal  revenue  of  Mexico  consists  mainly 
of  three  sources  :  import  duties,  internal  revenue,  and  direct  taxes  in 
the  Federal  District.  Under  the  head  of  import  duties  we  collect  du- 
ties on  imports,  extra  import  duties  which  we  call  additional  duties, 
and  duties  on  exports. 

The  sources  of  revenue  of  the  Mexican  Federal  Treasury  during 
the  fiscal  year  1895-1896,  were  : 

Imposts  on  foreign  trade $23,658,692  61 

Internal  revenue 20,447,096  42 

Direct  taxes  in  the  Federal  District  and 

Territories 3,357>6n  81 

Public  services 1,81 1,045  3° 

Nominal i,955>301  94 

Total $5 1,229,748  08 

Import  Duties. — Our  tariff  is  a  highly  protective  one,  as  we  have 
always  maintained  a  very  high  rate  of  import  duties,  almost  prohibitory 
for  a  large  portion  of  our  population,  which  under  such  a  system  are 
practically  excluded  from  the  use  of  foreign  commodities,  to  the  ma- 
terial detriment  of  the  fiscal  revenue,  the  public  wealth  at  large,  and 
the  advancement  of  the  masses  of  our  people.  The  causes  which  have 
induced  such  a  high  tariff  are  twofold  :  first,  that,  in  a  great  measure, 
protective  ideas  have  prevailed  ;  secondly,  and  especially,  the  need  of 
revenue,  and  the  idea  that  the  higher  the  rate  of  duties  the  larger  would 
be  the  revenue  collected.  A  new  source  of  protection  has  been  cre- 
ated by  the  depreciation  of  our  currency,  which  acts  as  a  powerful 
protection  to  our  home  commodities,  in  favor  of  our  manufacturers  to 
the  disadvantage  of  the  great  body  of  consumers. 

The  protective  policy  in  Mexico  has  been  so  deeply  rooted  that 
notwithstanding  that  I  lean  to  freer  trade,  and  that  I  have  been  three 
times  at  the  head  of  the  Treasury  Department,  and  once  for  five  years, 
I  never  was  able  to  modify  substantially  that  policy,  because  the  con- 
dition of  the  Treasury  was  so  precarious,  that  it  would  have  been  very 
rash  to  attempt  any  radical  change  on  the  face  of  a  great  reduction  of 
an  insufficient  revenue  which  would  have  brought  about  disastrous  re- 
sults. For  the  same  reason  I  was  unable  to  do  away  with  the  obnox- 
ious alcabala  tax. 

Our  present  tariff  is  divided  into  the  following  sections  :  ist,  animal 
industry  ;  2d,  agricultural  products  ;  3d,  metals  and  its  manufactures  ; 
4th,  fabrics  ;  5th,  chemicals,  oils,  and  paints  ;  6th,  wines,  liquors,  and 
fermented  drinks  ;  7th,  paper  ;  8th,  machinery  ;  9th,  carriages  ;  loth, 
arms  and  explosives,  and  nth,  sundries. 


144 


Statistical  notes  on 


Additional  Import  Duties. — The  additional  duties  collected  by  the 
Custom-houses  are  ij  per  cent,  of  the  amount  of  the  import  duties, 
which  is  levied  for  the  respective  municipality  ;  2  per  cent,  of  the  same 
duties,  for  harbor  improvements  ;  and  2  per  cent,  in  revenue  stamps, 
making  in  all  5!  per  cent,  of  the  import  duties.  The  custom-houses 
collect  besides  the  import  duties,  tonnage  and  light-house  duties,  and 
pilot  fees. 

Export  Duty. — Our  export  duties  are  levied  upon  cabinet  and  dye- 
woods,  india  rubber,  cochineal,  coffee,  henequen,  ixtle,  indigo,  fequila, 
jalap,  tamarind,  tobacco,  mother-of-pearl,  orchilla,  vanilla,  zacaton, 
and  onyx. 

The  following  statement  shows  the  amount  of  export  duties  col- 
lected in  Mexico  from  the  fiscal  year  1881-1882  to  1894-1895,  ex- 
pressing the  commodities  in  which  they  were  collected  : 

STATEMENT   OF   THE   RECEIPTS   FROM  EXPORT  DUTIES  IN  MEXICO    FROM 
JULY    I,    l88l,    TO    JUNE    30,    1895. 


FISCAL  YEAR. 

RECEIPTS. 

COMMODITIES   TAXED. 

1881  1882           

$122,462   24 
144,597   93 

179,439  97 
161,811  47 
107,484  80 
106,859  63 
114,869  04 
81,849  25 
98,386  12 
86,859  86 
96,560  48 

91,475  54 
1,045,105  44 
1,227,719  24 

Orel 

Orel 
Ore 

za 

tiilla,  w 

lilla,  w 
rilla,  w 
caton, 

ood. 

ood,  henequen,  coffee. 
Dod,  henequen,  coffee,  skins, 
chewing  gum,  ixtle,  vanilla. 

1882  1883 

1883  1884               

1884—  188=,     

1885-1886  

1886—1887 

1887—1888    

1888-1889  

1800—1801                 .        •  .  • 

1891  1892                 

1802  1893                           •  • 

180^—1804.  .            

Amount  of  Import  Duties. — It  is  very  difficult  to  give  a  correct  state- 
ment of  the  receipts  of  the  Mexican  custom-houses  before  the  year 
1875.  I  append,  however,  one  made  from  the  reports  of  the  Secre- 
taries of  the  Treasury  of  Mexico,  especially  those  of  July  25,  1839, 
and  September  16,  1870,  and  completed  from  the  years  1839-1851, 
with  data  obtained  from  the  Comercio  exterior  de  Mexico^  D.  Miguel 
Lerdo  de  Tejada.  From  the  fiscal  year  1875-1876,  the  Statistical 
Bureau  of  our  Treasury  Department  began  to  publish  detailed  and 
correct  statements  of  the  custom  receipts,  and  I  append  one  embracing 
the  fiscal  years  from  1875  to  1896  which  shows  how  largely  our  im- 
port duties  have  increased.  In  the  ten  years  elapsed  from  1878  to 
1888  the  increase  was  over  67  per  cent,  as  compared  with  the  corre- 


TRevenue  anfc  Expenses.  145 

spending  period  from  1869-1879,  and  the  increase  in  the  last  seven 
years,  1889-1896,  was  16  per  cent,  as  compared  with  the  previous  ten 
years,  both  periods  making  an  increase  of  nearly  100  per  cent,  over  the 
first  ten  years  of  said  statement  : 

CUSTOMS    RECEIPTS    FROM    1823    TO    THE    FISCAL    YEAR   ENDING 
JUNE    20,    1875. 

1823.  From  April  ist  to  September  30  the  receipts  were 
$971,345  77,  which  for  a  year  of  12  months 

would  be $1,942,691  54 

1825.  From  the  ist  of  January  to  the  ist  of  August, 

1825,  the  receipts  were  $4,472,069  37,  which  for 

a  year  of  12  months  would  be 7,666,404  63 

1825-1826  From  the  ist  of  September,  1825,  to  June, 

1826,  $6,414,383  26,  which  for  a   year   of    12 

months  would  be 9,621,574  89 

1826-1827 7,828,20844 

1827-1828 5,692,026  70 

1828-1829 6,497,288  93 

1829-1830 4,815,418  25 

1830-1831 8,287,082  92 

1831-1832 7,335,637  76 

1832-1833 7,538,525  47 

i833-J834 8,786,396  94 

1834-1835 8,920,408  28 

1835-1836 5,835,o68  51 

1836-1837 4,377,579  52 

From  July  i,  1837,  to  December  31, 1838,  $4,258,411  10. 

Corresponding  to  one  year  of  12  months 2,83^,940  73 

1839 5,577,890  67 

1840 8,309,918  65 

1841 6,597,912  32 

1842 6,034,342  29 

1843 8,507,478  79 

1844 8,254,141  96 

1845 5,814,048  69 

1846 6,747,932  35 

1847 1,394,609  52 

From  January  i,  1848,  to  June  30,  1849,  J8  months. . .  6,660,037  96 

From  July,  1849,  to  June,  1850 6,338,437  50 

1850-1851 5,337,o68  62 

From  July  i,  1851,  to  June  30,  1852 6,108,835  2^ 

1852-1853,  according  to  the  calculations  of  M.  Haro  y 

Tamariz  average  from  the  preceding  five  years.  4,906,533  17 


146  Statistical  Wotes  on  dDesfco. 

1853-1854,  according  to  the  report  of  M.  Olazagarre 

(l855) 8,399,208  93 

1854-1855,  according   to  the  report  of  M.  Lerdo  de 

Tejada  (1857) 8,096,208  85 

1855-1856,  according  to  the  report  makes  the  receipts 
for  the  first  six  months  amount  to  $3,379,761  35, 

which  for  the  year  is 6,759,522  7° 

1856-1857,  average  for  the  six  years  previous 6,854,061  78 

1857-1858          "             "           "               "         6,854,061  78 

1858-1859                                                                6,854,061  78 

1859-1860                                                               6,854,061  78 

1860-1861          "             "           "                "         6,854,061  78 

1861-1862          "             "           "               "         6,854,061  78 

1862-1863          "             "           "                "         6,854,061  78 

1863-1864          "             "           "               "         6,854,061  78 

1864-1865          "             "           "               "         6,854,061  78 

1865-1866          "             "           "               "         6,851,06178 

1866-1867          "                         "                          6,851,061  78 

1867-1868,  according  to  the  amount  of  the  receipts. . . .  9,566,360  99 

1868-1869           "                      "                    "             ....  9,606,491  73 

1869-1870 7,824,525  57 

1870-1871 10,014,277  60 

1871-1872 8,430,211  oo 

1872-1873 11,833,117  52 

1873-1874 13,981,795  42 

1874-1875 11,821,533  49 

Total $367,725,836  01 

Average  in  one  year $7,07!, 650  69 

Internal  Revenue. — The  Federal  Treasury  of  Mexico  depended 
up  to  1867  mainly  upon  import  duties,  and  as  it  was  not  safe  to  have 
only  that  source  of  revenue,  when  I  occupied  for  the  first  time  the 
Treasury  Department,  I  introduced  a  system  of  internal  revenue 
through  the  use  of  stamps,  which  met  with  a  great  deal  of  opposition 
at  the  time,  but  which  has  finally  been  developed  very  largely,  yielding 
now  almost  as  much  as  the  import  duties.  The  receipts  during  the 
six  months  from  January  ist  to  June  3oth,  ^75,  amounted  to  $1,097,- 
668  28,  which  in  a  whole  year  would  make,  duplicating  it,  $2,195, 
336  56,  while  in  the  fiscal  year  ended  June  30,  1896,  the  receipts 
amounted  to  $18,078,952  54,  or  nearly  eight  times  as  much. 

We  have  had  since  1861  a  comparative  large  source  of  revenue 
called  Federal  Tax,  which  up  to  1892  was  25  per  cent,  of  all  the  reve- 
nues collected  by  the  States  and  Municipalities  in  Mexico.  That  rate 


IRevenue  ant)  Expenses* 


147 


\O  M  HOO  ro  O  10  ro  tx  M  vnoo  1000  lx  tx  N  ro  w  oo  O   ro  "-d-  04  -*-oo  w 
tx  «  CO  vo    txoo   OOOOHVSrOTfO'OtxOHOOroO'OOOOOOO' 

•*  \r>  o  -<t-vo  vo  oo  N  rx  o>  -*•  txoo  O<  «   ro  •*•  -*-vo  o>  M  H   o>  OM»  <o<O 
oo«ooioiooNro  1000  vo  vo  oo  >^vo  ro  o  Ooo  tx  tx  ^  10  o>vo  10  tx 

H  tx  O  M  ON  M  rOVO  rOVO  W>  •**•  0s  1O  tx  0)  1O  rO  "3-  ON  fO  N  M  ON  rO  tx  rO 


J. 

ll 

T3 

C 

I 


OS  O    O  OO    g<  ON  O>OO    -^-  O>VO    tx  rO  1OOO    rON    1-1    ONONtxM    IO 
txc<    W    O*O    O    SOtxO    txvo    tx  H    txVO  vOCNlOOONWOONO' 


O    H    «    CT»  O    ^"  tx  txoO    lOIO^O^OONt^OVO    COfO  tOVO    O    IOOO    CO  ro 

o»  in  ^  Ovoo  ^.Nwc«NiOM\OM5i-.wONON  moo  M  o  covo  tx 

vooo  o  OMVOOO  H  moo  <«-io«  o  N  oovcoo  txoo  o<  tx  tx  «  moo 
•^•c*  ON^o^mio^  0*00  voio-^w  tx^o  **  w  mvo  ro  M  o*  H  ^-  tx 
ro  <^vo_  q.  >o  q.  •*;  o^  ^oo^  10  q.  -*\o^  ^.  M^  5^  ro  H^  H_  M^  •*  c«_  cr  c>  «  M^ 

H"  M*  m  looo*'  iCw'^ioo^mM  tCw  H"^  txoo*"  -<f  tx  tC  cToo"  tx  H"  10 
txiotxH  ONfOH  M  •^•C^^wvO  O  •^•ONW  O^H  txo*O*W  H  M 
•*•  10  10  rx\5  vooooooo  ofo  10<0°  <  °  C°.°° 


H  ro  H   -+OO   rovo   ro  O   txoo   N   M    o>rON   rotx>OtxO   w 


^^ 
o^  <>  "^ 

M    -<*-VO 


M    ro  O-OO    « 

o  1003  vo  ^t- 


ooo.  O.  1  ro  M^  H^  ro  -J  ^  txvq.  •+  0,  txvO_  „__  ^  «.  ro  10  <>oo^  »Md«  •*; 
3OOO»MOONONrOON    rt-OO    ONlxlOlOtxONONCNl    O    O*"  txVO    O>  CO 


ro<*  O  O   O*iow   roixtxrotxf^rx^o   ro^iowvooo   ^10 
M   txroroOMOM   -^OVO  O   ^-H-0-  ^00  vo   O  M   M  oo  ^-  iovO 


^ 


H!  s 


M  oo 

00 


'J^Soi^S^^^ 

•  ON  O*vO   O^  O   IO  O   O    M 


:  N  *°  2"^  t^  5  ?  S\S  o'^  2"c3  ^S  ^a  &  fo  ?rc 

.  WMMMMMM  O 


O  O  M    ^  ro  in  txoo   w   O^fOOf^O   O^txwvo   O^O   ro  fO^O   ro  t%vO  \O 
romu->cow  mtxo  ^M  o  txmw  M  M  o  COMOO  tx  o»Z>  ^-  mo  M 

ro  M  ONOO  vo  tN.^M  low  O  o*1^ 

0>txN    lO^t-vo    10M    H«    txSf> 


•8.  S5  g%  %  ?  o1  ?  3  §§  vS  ^  S  ft 
S8  5S  ^%^§  io\S  K^S^ 

OO^OO^OC3_  N_  ro  ej_  ro  10  tx  lovo^op^  O;  q;     _  .    ^  ^         ^    ^ 

covo"  t-TtT'^hro'M'ioo'^  hTvo"  M"  10  1000*  rovo"  ^oo"  10  •^vo'vo'vo*  ro 
O  w  00  ro  t*  txv6  IOVO  vi  vo  oo  10  «  iovO  ^txMvg  «OOOO  Q  -<J- M  10 
M  rovo  M  vo-^-NMHM«ro  IxVO  vo  vO  10  txoo 


-  H    IH    tx  ro  ro  C>00    tx  iovo   tx  «    tx  tx  N    tx  r>vo   M 
rOMMNMMMlotx  IOVO    O 

iOWOv^*-  iovo  vo  O  M 
H  txro  ^-vo  tx  w  w  M 
c  txoo  tx  ro  e  o>  M  c 


£« 

M    10 

e»  lx 

II 

K5J 

8* 

ON 

JO   M 

*§    M 

A 

1- 

M     • 

€\ 

vd 

"  i 

*j 

So? 

ro^ 

°£3 

H-5 

£<» 

r 

2J 

°C<£ 

CO  M" 

i 

g 

550,040  58 
I55i004  06 

II 

0?  N 

8 

M-d" 

O^vo** 

^ 
i 

0     H 

I 

3 

J2 
1 

TJ 

1| 

a-s 

K  S 

§ 

|]| 

oT^ 

tx  10 

ro 

^ 

I 

?T  o 

8* 

0 

oo.'S. 

M    0 

in 

£o  w 

M"  ro 

O 

^i-  M 

tx  10 

'S 

«» 

«» 

P. 

B 

i  : 

•S 

: 

:  : 

0 

;    ; 

g, 

:  ; 

:  : 

«T 

i 

v£"3- 

row 

10% 

*c3 

*J* 

ON  10 

lx  10 

3 

ro  ro 

1OVO* 

lx  cT 

S 

<?& 

ON?: 

^r 

1 

£* 

tftf 

•as5 

I 

«» 

«» 

ro? 

s  s 

Kr^ 

•s 

So? 

Ji 

cJv? 

S 

00   £ 

oo'io 

O'oo' 

1 

tx  w_ 

4 

3 

|fc 

tx  0) 

H     tx 

tx  ro 
ro  tx 
ixlx 

^ 

•^od* 

tx  ro 

o\  10 

r 

r^  ro 

CO  O 

id  averages. 
Totals  
Average... 

if 

Totals  
Average.  .  . 

'• 

f 

I 

If 

M 

f~ 

148 


Statistical  IRotes  on  /IDejico. 


was  increased  in  1893  from  25  to  33  J  per  cent,  on  account  of  the 
deficit  caused  to  the  Federal  Treasury  by  the  depreciation  of  silver, 
and  that  tax  which  is  paid  in  Federal  stamps,  constitutes  a  very  large 
portion  of  our  internal  revenue  receipts. 

I  append  a  statement  of  our  internal  revenue  taxes  with  full  details. 

INTERNAL    REVENUE    RECEIPTS    FROM    JANUARY    I,    1875,    TO    JUNE    30, 

1896. 


FISCAL   YEARS. 

GROSS 
RECEIPTS. 

GROSS    RE- 
CEIPTS OF  THE 
FEDERAL  TAX. 

TOTAL 
RECEIPTS. 

COLLECTION 

EXPENSES. 

NET 
RECEIPTS. 

From  January  i  to 
June  30,  1875... 

$328,631  26 

$769,037  02 

$1,097,668   28 

Per- 
centage. 

1871;  1876... 

$668,930  14 

728,192  71 
920,001  29 

763,879  23 

1,311,463  95 

$1,145,624  37 
1,905,806  66 
2,154,249  51 
2,239,267  37 
2,336,431  73 

$1,814,554   51 

2,633,999  37 
3,075,150  80 
3,003,146  60 
3,647,895  68 

$167,937   42 

120,334  94 
302,612  65 

300,490   02 
484,215    36 

9-255 
4-567 
9.840 
10.006 
13-274 

$2,247,617   09 

2,513,664  43 

2,772,538  15 
2,702,656  58 
3,164,180  32 

1878  1870  . 

1879-1880  

Average    per    an- 
num in  five  years 

$878,673  46 

$1,956,275  93 

$2,834,949  39 

$275,118    08 

9.705 

$2,680,131  31 

1880-1881  
1881  1882  

$I,°37,73°  93 
1,429,655  61 
1,591,189  33 
1,919,461  99 
3,231,872  75 

$2,371,369  31 
2,775,M9  84 
3,099,179  93 
2,912,967  08 
3,127,481  85 

$3,4°9,100  24 
4,204,805  45 
4,690,369  26 
4,832,429  07 
6,359,354  60 

$351,980  oi 

376,095    30 
420,132    04 

441,080  10 

489,043  89 

10.325 

8-943 
9.000 
9.126 
7.690 

$3,057,120  23 
3,828,710  15 

4,270,237   22 
4,391,348   87 
5,870,310   71 

1882-1883  
i88->—  1884  

1884-1885  

Average    per    an- 
num in  five  years 

$1,841,982    12 

$2,857,229  60 

$4,699,211  72 

$415,666  27 

8.845 

$4,283,545  44 

1885  1886  

$2,761,886    56 

3,930,429  16 
4,654,190  93 
5,108,911  59 
5,575,o67  62 

$3>II5,759  85 
3,587,339  96 
3,324,937  53 
3,679,493  52 
3,791,695  27 

$5,877,646  41 
7,517,769  12 
7,979,128  46 
8,788,405  ii 
9,366,762  89 

$428,390  78 

638,011  29 

728,431  31 

771,601  95 
799,721  78 

7.288 
8.486 
9.000 
8.777 
8.538 

$5,449,255  63 
6,879,757  83 
7,250,697  15 
8,016,803  16 
9,567,041  ii 

1886-1887       . 

1887-1888  

1888-1889  

Average    per    an- 
num in  five  years 

$4,406,097  17 

$3,499,845  23 

$7,905,942  40 

$673,237  42 

8.516 

$7,432,710  98 

$5,624,340  94 
5,402,495  76 
6,625,265  53 
9,164,063  10 
10,098,795  63 
12,519,676  93 

$3,865,650  49 
3,969,987  88 
4,431,022  65 
5,216,547  31 
5,47I,I73  92 
5,559,255  61 

$9,489,991  43 
9,372,483  64 
11,056,288  1  8 
14,380,610  41 

15,569,969  55 
18,078,932  54 

$853,834  28 
868,161  60 
945,076  71 
1,120,760  85 
1,146,419  41 
1,196,053  14 

8.955 
9-263 
8.548 
7.190 

6.616 

$8,636,157  15 
8,504,322  04 
10,111,211  47 
i3,259,849  56 
14,423,550  14 
16,882,879  40 

1891—1892   

1807-1804.  .  . 

1895-1896  

Average     in      six 

$8,239,106  31 

$4,752,272  98 

$12,991,379  29 

$1,021,717  67 

7.865 

$11,969,661  63 

Total  in  21  J  years. 

$85,397,032  94 

$70,849,428  66 

$156,246,461  60 

$12,950,384  83 

8.288 

$143,799,908  39 

Direct  Taxes. — The  third  source  of  revenue  of  the  Mexican  Govern- 
ment are  direct  taxes  collected  in  the  Federal  District,  which  includes 
the  City  of  Mexico.  They  are  levied  on  real-estate,  scientific  profes- 
sions, commercial  and  industrial  establishments,  and  work-shops.  The 
real-estate  for  the  purpose  of  this  tax  is  divided  into  rural  and  urban, 
the  former  paying  a  tax  of  12  per  cent,  on  its  rent  when  occupied,  and 
3  per  cent,  when  not  occupied,  and  the  latter  paying  8  per  thousand  of 
its  registered  value. 

Taxes  on  professions  vary  from  50  cents  to  $20.00  a  month.  The 
tax  on  commercial  and  industrial  establishments  is  regulated  by  law. 
The  commercial  establishments,  which  pay  license  taxes  are  commis- 


IRevenue  ant>  Bjpenses. 


149 


sion  agencies  of  all  kinds  :  banking  firms  ;  dry  goods,  groceries,  wines, 
furniture,  and  jewelry  stores  ;  insurance  companies  ;  restaurants,  hotels, 
and  boarding-houses.  Among  the  industrial  establishments  are  em- 
braced especially  railway,  telegraph  and  telephone  companies  ;  cotton, 
woollen,  and  silk  mills  ;  factories  of  all  kinds  ;  iron  smelters  ;  printing, 
engraving,  and  photographic  establishments  ;  coffee,  corn,  and  flour 
mills,  etc.,  etc. 

When  the  alcabalas  were  abolished  a  direct  tax  was  established  upon 
some  of  the  articles  which  paid  the  largest  sums,  namely  :  pulque, 
wheat  flour,  and  domestic  brandy  distilled  from  molasses. 

I  annex  a  statement  showing  the  proceeds  of  Direct  Taxes  in  the 
Federal  District  during  the  last  twenty-seven  fiscal  years. 

RECEIPTS    FROM    DIRECT    TAXES    IN     THE     FEDERAL    DISTRICT     DURING 
THE    TWENTY-SEVEN    FISCAL    YEARS   ENDING    JUNE    30,    1896. 


FISCAL  YEARS. 

GROSS  RECEIPTS. 

COLLECTION 
EXPENSES. 

PER- 
CENTAGE 
EXPENSES. 

NET  RECEIPTS. 

$485,451  73 
502,146  64 

471,228  78 

477,654  75 
524,494  76 
531,149  09 

Ii35°,7°5  56 
516,510  80 
538,300  09 
559,217  21 
592,688  44 
634,498  92 
674,973  66 
753,579  80 
830,010  26 
1,092,656  37 
1,023,349  52 
1,040,143  1  6 
1,074,489  54 
1,125,202  97 
1,213,458  49 
1,306,746  37 
1,369,225  30 
1,436,875  70 
1,445,270  81 
I,497,25I  9° 
1,620,480  35 

$55,48l    65 
53,924   28 

50,034  37 
5J,939  °5 
57,205  69 
56,663  64 
69,957  24 
47,685  23 
37,970  oo 
51,160  08 

52,126   21 
52,26o   50 

53,i6i  23 
98,264  24 
I0°,937  9° 
89,892  38 
91,464  07 
84,861  27 

121,011    50 
97,635    14 
IOO,I34   87 
103,740  02 

104,320  34 
115,817  86 
110,290  73 
108,255  57 
110,347  13 

11.42 
10.74 
10.62 
9.90 
10.90 
10.67 
5.18 
9-23 
7-05 
9-15 

8.79 
8.23 
7.87 
13.08 
12.16 
8.23 
8.97 
8.16 
11.26 
8.68 
8.25 

8.06 

?.3O 
.81 

$429,970  08 
448,22*2   36 
421,194  41 
425,715   70 
467,289  07 
474,485  45 
1,280,748  32 
468,825  57 
500,330  09 
508,057  13 
540,562  23 
582,238  42 
621,812  43 
655,315  56 
729,072  36 
1,002,763  99 
931,885  45 
955,281  89 
953,478  04 
,027,567  83 
,113,323  62 
,203,006  35 
,264,904  96 
,321,057  84 

!388',996  33 
,510,133  22 

1070   1079  

1881  1882  

1884  1885     

1886  1887  

1887  1888           

1888  1880 

1889  1890     

1802  i8cn 

1894-1895   

$24,687,760  97 

$2,126,542  19 
78,760  82 

$22,561,218  78 
835,600  69 

8.65 

Totals  and  Annual  averages  of  the 
first  five  years  

$2,460,976  66 
4Q2,I95  33 

$268,585  04 
53,717  01 

. 

$2,192,391  62 
438,478  32 

11.14 

Total  of  the  second  five  years  
Annual  average  

$3,495,882  75 
699,176  55 

$263,436  19 
52,687  24 

$3,232,446  56 
646,489  31 

7-54 

$3,485,751  °8 
684,550  38 

$356,750  08 

71,350  02 

$3,129,001  oo 

625,800   20 

Annual  average  

10.42 

Total  of  the  fourth  five  years  

$5,355,841  56 
1,071,168  31 

$484,864   36 
96,972   87 

$4,870,977   20 

974,195  44 

9-05 

Total  of  the  fifth  period  of  five  years 
Annual  average  

$6,771,576  67 
I,354,3I5  33 

$534,303    82 
106,860   76 

$6,237,272  85 
1,247,454  57 

7.89 

Total  of  the  sixth  period  of  two  years 
Annual  average  

$3,117,732  25 
1,558,866  13 

$218,602    70 

109,301  35 

$2,899,129  55 
1,449,564  78 

7.01 

150 


Statistical  IRotes  on  /iDejico, 


>  in\o  o  ooo  n  in  i 
!  t  M,  «  t  «5°°  «  ' 

&•  t^OO    M    tN.00    CO  i 


h-.  moo  M  tovo  •**•  O  to  m  to  to 
to  ••*•  m  O   Oco    N   to  m  O    moo  o 

ONe^m  'C0?.  °  °°  °,  *°  c>0°  ""*"  " 
M'VO"  m  m  -*<d"  >f  m  H"  M"o6"vo~ 


vo"    4 

OOj     M^ 


1 


to  O   t^  M  co 
CO    M    tOOO    tt 

tills 


m  •*  -<f 
-  ON  fOOO 
OtOM 


8m 


to  ooo  mvo  w  o  •*$•  to  o  t^t^m 
O^  •<*•  M_  «_  m  m  ON  M^  mvo  to  -<*•  m 
cJ"  H"  H"  M"  M"  M" 


\ON 
o^00 


M   f    «o  ro      *o"  in  tC  N 
ro<Nior>fxmi-ioo  t 


^5-1^ 


10 

Os 
00 


M  ON  T»-CO  CM  mo  O  oo  M  <xo  ONVO  m  t^co"  ?  m  to  m  ON  c?  - .  .  . 
vo  -"t-00  mtOM  o  o)  ON  m  N  vo  vo  -+OO  «  to  toco  o  m  t^  to  ON  i 
vo"  cT  m  >o  M"  m  o^  tC  o"  c>  M"  Tfoo'vo"  r"  "-'  -" 


R    1 

in  \    M 


mints , 

H  r-*  rnoo  ^*-oo  &\o  <5^o  vo"  <>  H  oo  t^  c>  •«?  t^vcT  en  M"  ^oo"  en  in  M"  r^ 
js.  -^-  cs  int^.cocoPO'--  o  o»w  M  w  r**  ^oo  ro  o»  w  txco  t^.  o  oo  N  o 


t^*  O^OO   HOO   WMOO^OOO   ro  inoo   t"sQ   mO   O>H   -^HOO   t^vo   ^"\O   O 

&  t «  ^.A^  «  SS  S.  ?^H >  «» "  ov'S  8^%1'S? 'S 

^0*"mM"oNtCcvrT?io  ^Tvo*"  mvo"  tC  cToo"  ^f  ^  O*"oo"  nToo"  w"  m  ON  tx  M" 
•*vo  r>  t^  N  ON  csi  ts.  ONVO  oo  moo  mvo  t-»vo  t^vg  M  vo  o>  o*  t-.  moo  to 
M  «  cvi  w  «vo  io-^-^-r>.ioq.ON-tMoo  »om  tovo  «o  «  M  M  o  >o  M 


<M     VO 

oo     to 


^JgSRS48>5S2>^§t<8,s 

\o  O'O**-)  N  •^•fs.M  w  t-^oo  co  in  w  co 
o^  co  o**vo"  rovo^otTooTvo^  in  o"  ^vo"»o^  t^ 

CO    W    g    M  00  ^CO    m  N^^    M  VO^  O^  CO  CO 


w  CMn  t*  ^  t^ 

n  hT  oT'O*  co  t^  o^  0**  t^ 
"-  ~~\  in  in  covo  h*.  M  co 


m  to  M  vo  t^  mvo  toco  «  is  m  moo 
«o«t^«-^--*ococoioMirimci 

10  tOC    >-<VO_Vp    O    t     (     •*  tvOO    C 

" 


Pvo*  eT  ro  »o  in  cToo'  p>  cf  M"  o^  cf  (^ 

'M^Sffm'S-o^g.^REm; 


to  •«»•  t^o  oo  vo  «  oo  vo  •*• 
Mmtoio  mvo  M  H  ON  •*• 

-^  N  OO^  ^  ^CO    ONOO    t>.  M 

to  -^  cT  ef  m  -^  tCvo"  m  •<? 


* 


vo  ON  o  vs  *»i-  -^  -^-oo  -^  -^  ON  to  ON  t^ 
M  S.  ti.  N  m  invo  moo  o  ON  ONVO  M 
tovo  co  mvo  wOO^omONONMt^ 


mvo  w  moN^-Moo  01  o  o 
vo  cs  w  ON  ri  m  mo  m  to  t-. 
Mioint^MONOoow^M 


*2  m  o 


m  vo" 


mOoo   t^M 


?%£  S  2 

o  a  «  -*to 

s5?;^'^ 


Moovo  io-^-<s  ONMVO  t^  *- 


"vH 


l^>m 


Km^ 


vo  woo  m 
m  *o  ^t-co 
m  M"  H"VO" 


H  t^  m  to     vo    •<»• 


1  j  V:  \i''i  j  M  :g:  1  j 

11  -:  a|  jflli 


I 

s 

I  O«   "     •    I  in      --3   H      "-1 

8ajS  H  c  S      2 
«2!32rt£      o  13      o 


TRevenue  an&  Expenses* 


hsfOrOM  uic*   ci   -j-  w   ts.  ro  t»»  ro  fO  O  *O  "+\O   w  *O   covo  oo  *"*•  M  o*  O 

58|}&H.'5<|8S!§ftR4?p.||S%S&||^ 
So-  Slnfrf &f  s  i  £#  s£  J?  :?3  ££  co  R  s  £§  8  £  o-c? 

«  m  o  vo  ts.  co  O  «  ts^o  m  ts  •*•  tsop^  M  •*  o  O^mo^mo^c^co 
M-eTcoM'"cferindcfcoinod>-*M'incoco  •^vo*  •£  co  M"  M'CO'VO'  6" 


J 


"')?! 
M-3- 


, 

o^oo" 
c>fn 
tCro 


COOO  ^   M    w   O^^O   ONVO   W   H   m^O  •   ^ 

M   N   M   r<T»»--<»-r<i-<»-  -^-vo  in  m  O  •  oo 

N,  "^  °,  9,  'i^  "0  ^"i.  1  °,  H,  ^  •  ", 

cf  in  cT  6^  inoo'vo^oo"  o"  ^  M"  rCoo"  I  ^ 

inON^^Pomt^ciin  coco  oo  w  .00 

MfoNooi     rooo  m  in  m  .  M 


1, 
8, 


incioxO  inoo 
m«  MVO  H  ro 
H  O  O  O^vo  ts 


HinHcoo* 
O  vo  -*vo  in 
M  «  to  M  <*> 


•*  «  ^-oo  o  o  m  m  o  o  •*vc  vo  ts  covo  o  cotsw  tsts^H  o  oco 
oo  •^•ts-^-^-mM  mmw  O  MVO  w  N  cow  -^  ovo  oco  co  M  M  ovo 
co  ts  o  m  o  M  coco  ^vo  M  m  o  ^vo  invo  co  tsvo  o  M  o  ^  o  ooo 


0 

" 


vo  w  in  in  co  m  tsoo  tsw  M  tso  ISM  w  ^w  dinomw  oin^o 
O  ts^-ooo  omwooNvS  ovo  MOOVO  mmcoocoo  moo  co 

COCO    •*•  M    Nvq^^O^mts,Tt;  •*00_VO_00    •*  f  COVO    CO  •*  Tj-VO    M    O    ts  ts 

vo"  •*  tC  cToo"  •^vo'co'  o'  fTvo""  ocxTocT  co  •<?  M'  tC  *  £.  M"  M"  tsoo"  •£  o"  M" 

VO    -^MVOVO    M    MVOOO    OOMOO    M    -*-CO  VO    fOVO    M    -^-OO    Is  O  m  N    O 

w  «  COM  «vo  mM^M  tscoq_o-*Moo  coco  mvo  m  «  M  M  ovo  «_ 


tsvo   -^  O   0    "^ 

^Sg'JfS-^ 

^^^^ 


§M  ro  TJ-  mo  oo  v>  10  \n\o  o^Ooo  tNO^o  ^10 
IOH  txfOVON  O  1OOO  t>.M  t^^^O'O  O  N 
rOW  ONM  t^^M  OH  tx  ^OO  (^  Ou^  c*  «  m 

?  l^f  vi  S^  S  a  i^  mvs  H I  ^if 


o   m 

u 


co  oo 

* 


;is"  O*"  •«?  «" 

ss-s 


JflfSlttlWlWit* 


vo     -vo  c     . 
Hp^mro.oo  inoo  0s  O  ts  rovo  tsoo  O 

tsvS    fOM     .  O»  «*H  ^T  mil  H  H    ts  V«-  (i. 


omovwo- 
vo^  in  q  in  w_ 

o*'oo'vo""  din 
oo  vo  M  O  m 

W 


H«M  cooo  «  m   -vo  O 
9,00.  '*9^o^'tlO  'v°,q_ 
'' 


,_..       ,  » 

HT»H'^w'  t-TvcT  tsvo"  doo'oo'  cf  06"  -^ 
«  M  mm  .  H  mmMtoNMH  is  cooo 

tsts.fOM       .M«M^-«<MMMts  V  ts 


10,697, 
54,956, 


$65, 


8  oVM°3-;? 
1 1 1 ««» 
^cg^SS- 


oowis.«tsM-^.inmo>  o>vo  ^  M  vo  co  o  in 
ON  ONOO  VOVOMVO  .«N-*onnininNO>5N 
m  M  oo  co  •*•  mvo  •OOHO^OMOOOOCINVO 


8""  ^?  «^co"  tsvo*"  co  I  tsocTvo"  M"  co  cToo'co'  d  ^  M" 
o  mo  ^-wm   Icowmoo  o  m  M  co  ?  is 

M    m  O     tsVO     COM       ,ONM-4--*MMMtx  -4-VO 


« *t  1 1  °, 


.o^ 
ocT 


4m 


OMVoisowm  «Mvots.oHcoooovo^- 

ts  O^*-  OOO    M    •*  •    M    CONOOCO    O  OM    Is  %  O 

<»;  tsoJ  4^n  -j- «_  •  q_  M_OO_  ts  is  o  ts  is  o^  q_  S. 

**w"mM"w"ts  I  ooo"  o  •*?  d  m  o"vo"  o'  o  co 

ts(M-*-<*-O  .00-<«-0   OVO   ts.vO   M   m  •*•  O 

OVO  VOCOM  .CO«COCOMMMMts  •+*$ 


O     CO 


^  co^  ^  co  tQ  in 

.  1 1 1 «  N,  -d 


««H 
MHw 


HHOO     'Wro«v 
OCO^-«Mts.H 
«COO-   COOO   tsv 


II 

m    o 


^  H   to  O   O   O*  O* 
Vm8;c?5>^Sv3 

&$$$$&'$ 


5.|||5§^ 


vo  vo  c    o  (    t    (oo  ••    « 

-- 


I1E:IS4& 

Pfi§flg 


151 

£ 


152 


Statistical  motes  on  /iDejico, 


10 

0\ 
00 


a  | 

H      w 


S 


& 


vo  N   M    ro 


t^  tx  ro  ro  o" 
O  ro  f-.  M  M 
tW  t^  ts.  10 


z^i. 


•£*g&3 


100 

-o^oo 


v8  Si 
N   ro 


to  tx  ro'ro 
0  oo  oovo 


fill 

^^9 


vo1 
ro 


o" 
vo 


O  O  d  ^*  t^  Ov  r*«  M 
•«*•  in  M  rooo  f^  in  o 
-*vo  «  £>oo 


cf  o;  roo\  K  q.  etoo^oo.  10  *+<o^  <±  q>oo^  5.  inoo^oo. 
oo"  M"  r>vo"vo'  rooo"  t^  O*"  ro  cT  c>  &*  rovo""  in  in  6>oo"  M" 
N  O  O^oo  M  (Mro-<t-t-.ro^^-0  O  mroO  ro<S  M 
ro  «.  qjln  q.  O>  M^  ^00^^  TJ-  S  10  tx  in  «  in  -£vo^  q. 


^ 

cT  -* 
vo  oo 
-*-  ^*- 


?    I 


^SS^^RSTOSsSSW'SfiR       £   °& 

IO         IOIOWCO         CONtN         W^WMtN          t"^N^  M 


cT^ 

oo  M   m  tx 


, 

NOro  ro 


10  c   g>  •<  vo  o  •*  c   N 
•*•  t^vo  -*-vo  iovo  •*  M 

M^-MM«  t^O^J- 


-^-O  O  Tt-N 
MOM«vO 
t^-^-M  iovO 


06     "   cvo         ro  <>  f> 
N  M    :  Jo  io  MIOOO 

MCOltl«MNMVO 


irnd"   IcfiOhTo^^fO 


OMN      »NOvN    O» 

-v-oo  t^~  •  o  •*  g>  M 
rotxt-..roroOoO 


<S         ?. 
tx       t~« 


i^SJ 


roONiOW     •lOOwiri 


€    £ 


- 

i-~oo  a>  •  o  •*  •*•  •*• 
mcx<N-  roco  O  ^ 


- 


vS     Ji- 


i  9 
I? 


10  00 


85 
IS' 


i"roro:S8^  |       8        ^N 

ro      v^ 


^t» 

CO      O^ 

LO     M" 


IO-      «NO  •    10 «    •*  •*• 

tx  ro  in  •  M  •<»•  in  m 

"I00-  I^t^O. 

Scjo"  I  ro  o^^  ? 


^  V  M   M    Ok    •    M   CH  OCO   Ci 

In  ov  P.  S.  ov  •  q.  t^oo,vq\  10 


««    3 


« 


it!  32  -a 

•I.i  nS  (2 


IRevenue  ant>  Expenses, 


153 


156 


:S\S*i 
t^° 


00 


S1  8 

CO     CO 
VO'CO 


I    C     10 
.    0s  O\ 


$7,617,955 
3,378,695 


CO 

VO    M    COVO 
CO  COOO    W    CO  txOO    lONOOCOtxM      •t^'^-COM 

'"  "    "'         "    ' 


o-vo"  <N"OO'  t^i  ts"    '.  •£•  «o  o"  iovo"oo" 
wrOPlvOctco.voiOiOMOC* 


•«•  1000    Cx  O    W 
tx  C      CO  ONOO    •• 


\oo  oo  1000  rovo 
-vo  vo  vo  vo  N  •*  *»  * 
H  vo  vooo^vo^  ri.  in  O^vo^  CO  q.  M_ 
i-r6>tCd-io»CincrtCfT«n  o-vcf 
r^^MMt--i-iromooovooN^- 
mmmwco  cowvo  N^ 


t    M 

inco 


38 


9, 
3, 


Tf 

oo 

oo 


N  ON  ON  •*•  «  « 
roQ%  *M   H 


tf*z 


M    G1  O    O^H    ^-M    COCOO*IOOOO    W    It*>t1x 

<s  ^10-^101000  M\O  ^- 1000  ro  o  co 

II1" 


I    ? 

8"    ? 


851, 
210, 


699 


ON     CO         CO 

•"•     \A 


^S&SS 

\O    •*•  «0  ON  M  VO 


e^vo  o  -vo  o  ^OCOIO^ONOC>^-COC>W  covo  w      vo 

C-N  CO  O  vo  vo    0s  t^VO    OHiotN.iOOKxMQ'^'*-tO>»  *O          O* 

O   O>W\O    wvo   COM   (S   O^O^  t^vo   cj^  ON  t^vt^  O^  O;  co  co        tx 


^^^^^r-*-^  ,> 


$9,443,36 
2,580,07 


10  O  M 
r^v5  10 
co  M  M 


1  Sl^    co^O   M 

.«  5  S  MVO 


894,79 
239,28 


to  O   O   O  vo 


^"  O    N    O^  O\ 
N    M    (S          10 


:-5S 


.  ^  covo 


70,001 
38,093 


oo~  cf  M  cf  '.  tC  tCvd"  in 


H    8 


<5  «  .n 

iO  O*  O  I 


t^   •  M  oo  o> 


^ 
O  K  o> 


M"  tC       ef 

tx  CO        00 


t^oo^-^woNin 
o>  ONOO  t^  •  m  o  M  co 
vo  Inoovo  .  vovg  M  c) 


2    v| 

i-T      tC 


t^coino' 

o  cor^M 

covo  o 


^coino' 
f-oom 
MIO 


OOt^»»»H<s    IOOO 

Nco-^-coOin 
t^in-o-^-q\^t- 
d>>ol  ONOO"  tTvo" 
>noo  .  «  r-»  (^  co 
H  .  oo  M  •«• 


^  O    "^  "^ 
00  VO    -00 

H     M     10 


oo"  N"  '.  tC  rCvcToo"  f>      tT 

-00     N  N 


$4,913,354 
1,332,451 


:A 


O.3  S  Q,S  s        E »9o  "  O »S M  o4S- 


Statistical  IFtotes  on 


STATE    AND    MUNICIPAL    FINANCES. 

The  best  way  in  which  I  can  give  the  state  and  municipal  revenues 
and  expenses  in  Mexico,  is  by  inserting  the  detail  amounts  of  the  last 
twelve  years  of  the  revenues  and  expenses  of  each  of  the  Mexican 
States,  and  a  similar  statement  of  the  revenues  and  expenses  of  the 
municipalities  of  each  State.  That  statement  gives  also  the  revenues 
and  expenses  of  the  City  of  Mexico,  which  have  increased  very  con- 
siderably of  late.  In  the  year  1867,  after  the  restoration  of  the  Re- 
public, they  only  amounted  to  about  $800,000,  while  in  the  year  1895, 
they  had  increased  to  $3,395,638.  (These  statements  are  on  pp.  150-153.) 

FOREIGN  TRADE. 

The  foreign  trade  of  Mexico  was  necessarily  very  small  before  the 
railway  era,  because  transportation  was  exceedingly  high  on  account 
of  the  broken  condition  of  the  country,  and  only  articles  of  great 
value  and  comparatively  small  weight  could  be  profitably  exported, 
while  the  price  of  foreign  commodities  became  very  high,  both  on  ac- 
count of  transportation  charges  and  high  import  duties.  Therefore, 
only  rich  people  could  afford  to  consume  foreign  commodities,  and 
the  exports  of  Mexico  were  practically  reduced  to  silver  and  gold, 
and  to  a  few  commodities  having  small  bulk  and  great  value. 

The  normal  cost  of  transportation  on  merchandise  from  the  City  of 
Mexico  to  Veracruz,  a  distance  of  one  hundred  Mexican  leagues  or 
263f  English  miles,  used  to  be,  before  the  railroad  connecting  both 
places  was  built,  $68.75  Per  ton  °f  220°  pounds,  or  more  than  26  cents 
per  mile  and  ton  ;  and  in  extraordinary  circumstances,  as  during  the 
French  Intervention  in  Mexico  from  1861  to  1867,  the  freight  was  as 
high  as  $330  per  ton,  or  over  $1.25  per  mile  and  ton.  Therefore,  no 
article  could  be  transported  unless  it  was  very  much  needed  and  it 
commanded  a  very  high  price.  The  result  was  that  not  only  the  for- 
eign but  also  the  domestic  trade  was  reduced  to  its  smallest  proportions, 
and  that  the  people  raised  just  enough  to  provide  for  the  wants  of 
themselves  and  their  immediate  neighbors.  A  fact  that  may  seem  in- 
credible is,  that  for  the  same  reasons,  among  the  farmers,  a  good  crop 
was  considered  a  great  misfortune. 

Since  the  railways  have  revolutionized  transportation,  our  products, 
especially  agricultural  commodities,  have  begun  to  be  sent  to  foreign 
markets,  and  their  exportation  is  increasing  considerably.  As  yet  the 
precious  metals,  especially  silver,  are  the  main  exports  from  Mexico, 
representing  during  the  fiscal  year  ended  June  30,  1896,  61  per  cent. 
of  our  total  annual  exports  ;  but  other  commodities  are  now  exported, 
and  they  are  in  a  fair  way  to  exceed,  before  long,  the  value  of  our  silver 
exports.  I  have  no  doubt  that  with  the  opening  of  our  railroads, 
if  our  exports  continue  to  increase  in  the  same  proportion  as  they  have 


Urafce. 


'55 


recently  done,  Mexico  will  be  able  to  supply  the  United  States  with 
most  of  the  tropical  products  now  consumed  and  not  yet  produced 
here,  and  even  with  others,  that  would  find  a  market  if  they  could  be 
cheaply  transported. 

The  same  difficulties  which  prevented  us  from  having  correct  ac- 
counts of  our  public  revenues  and  expenses,  and  which  I  have  stated 
in  speaking  on  that  subject,  made  it  very  difficult  for  many  years  to 
have  correct  statistics  of  our  imports  and  exports. 

Imports. — I  could  not  give  even  a  tentative  statement,  which  I 
could  vouchsafe,  of  our  total  imports  and  exports  from  1821  to  1867, 
but  the  statement  of  the  receipts  of  our  custom-houses  from  1823  to 
1875,  which  appears  on  page  145  gives  an  approximate  idea  of  our 
imports,  considering  that  the  receipts  amount  to  about  from  50  to  60 
per  cent,  of  the  value  of  the  imports. 

I  append  a  detailed  statement  of  the  imports  and  exports  in  Mexico 
during  the  years  1826,  1827,  and  1828,  and  the  total  imports  and  exports 
during  the  year  1825. 

From  the  fiscal  year  1872-1873  our  Statistical  Bureau  began  to 
make  its  reports,  and  I  have  concised  them  in  the  three  annexed  state- 
ments comprising  most  of  those  years,  up  to  the  fiscal  year  ended  June 
30,  1896.  The  commodities  are  divided  in  their  respective  classes  in 
accordance  with  the  different  schedules  of  the  tariffs  then  in  force. 

MEXICAN    IMPORTS    AND    EXPORTS    FROM    1826    TO    1828. 


MERCHANDISE. 

1826. 

1827. 

1828. 

Imports. 

$2,384,715 
934,295 
1,432,578 
5,017,700 
122,968 
2,888,066 
728,236 
90,779 
1,430,039 
264,424 
91,910 

63,499 
912 

444 

$2,180,191 
493,760 
844,732 
6,913,126 
107,108 
2,867,320 
489,402 
55,ioo 
495,743 
3",074 
103,047 

22,816 
4,517 
i,  080 

$1,711,051 
245,901 
398,003 
3,417,766 
38,654 
3,244,498 
306,614 
20,260 
130,638 
332,819 
57,i87 

44,123 
3i8 

Wool            .  .             .                             

Silk      

Cotton  

Mixed                           

Wines  liquors   groceries     

Haberdashery  

Medicines  drugs  and  perfumeries             • 

Books    blank  and  printed   paper 

China,  fine  and  ordinary,  crystal  and  glass. 
Furniture,  of  wood  and  metal  

Machines    and    instruments    for    mining, 
science   and  the  arts  

Furs  

Gold  and  silver              .        .                   . 

Total  imports             .    -    

$15,450,565 
Total  impo 

$5,847,795 
1,356,730 
76,440 
367,164 

$14,889,016 
rts  in  1825  :  $ 

$9,669,428 
912,049 
1,076,528 
513,769 

$9,947,832 
19,093,716. 

$12,387,288 
1,483,746 
448,747 
169,005 

Exports. 

Cochineal.       .                                     .... 

Indigo,  vanilla,  jalap,  and  sarsaparilla  .  .  . 
Other  articles  of  indigenous  products  

$7,648,129 
Total  expo 

$12,171,774 
rts  in  1825  :  \ 

$14,488,786 
5,085,235. 

156 


Statistical  "Rotes  on  flDejico. 


10 

t>* 

00 


CM 

t>. 
00 


g. 


in 

co 

T 


0 

CO 


CO 

? 

co' 


CO 

£ 

CO 


Oco 
o»n 

Oco 


M      m     O* 


OOMCOCOM 


-^-voOOm  oc> 

comt^Mco  coO 

COCOCOWO  m 

co               M                M"  co 


OincoOMCOMNMM  CT> 

O>vOOC<vOMMvOMM  CO 

3 


CT1  NO 

C^  om 


M        co  M 


•Z! 


a  ??  cStn 

11   i   HI!! 


ill 


157 


0 

oo 


0 
CO 
00 


s 


m  e*   Q  m  O  f^O  t  to  N  co  O  en  en       co 
tt^OencocOMOmaOONinO        *^ 

mo  M  O  co  t^ 

t  N  ttmo  N  eni 

Otrnomwotexow 

M  \o  en  m  mo 

CO  «  t 


O 
en 


w  w  en  t>-  1  O  M 
oo    OO    Ot^minO 
r>.  m  oco  in  t  M 


vn  t 


moo  oo  O 

in  oco  t 
co  oo  en 

O  O  en 

too  o"  M" 
m  t  en  O 
i-^  en  O  O 
M"  H"  w" 


Oini-<tOen  to 


*-i  M  oo  c*en<NOO 
O  eno  inMMOesM 

oo  M  o  O  mco  en  t  en  O  moo  t-icooort-       N        ^t       t> 
0  cni^  <>•«*•  OM   O  Ooo  W  vO   N  0  t^O         m       oo 
VOMCOOOOO  CMOOO  uv-o  or^rfo^c*       O        O^       "" 


t>.cnu->ir> 


tM  tnOoo 
r>oo  o*  ^"  ^ 


oo 
^ 
en 


M        M  en 


r^  O  t^  i-"  rt-O  w  r^ 
uicomcocQenMen 

''t'OsO^t'^i^Omo^ 
M  M  f»  ^co  sDooNco 


co  « 

t>i  t>. 

O  en 

en  d 


IOM  rfoo 


o  O>MvO  r 
M  co  •^•co  N 


wen 


O  oo  O^O  M  oo  m  r-»  en  O>O  ooenwo  en  •*  enooo 
enao  N  oo  Ooo  O  w  «  TJ-  «  \o  O  vnco  O  m  oo  n-  O  eno 
w  O  O  t-t  O  co  t^co  t^co  M  M  ooo  xnt^  rt-  o  MMCOO 


oenenMrooenir 
O  en  r->  M  0*0  Ooo  ow>-ic>t^ 
vn  mo  O  en  cnoo  oenu^xn  \ 


en       O 
M       oo 


0 


•  OO    O    Tt1  Tt-O 

.  a  »n  enco  N 


•  \O  w  en  O  w  oo  co 


O  00    O    O    ^l-OO  OOWO  O  W  WCOOOO 

enM  o-^eno  M  m  TT\O        -^-       M        o  M  in  en 


- 

t^inxnMvo       O        O       NMcn 

t>.vnOOco       oo        ^-       mwi-i 


\O  O  r    r  oo  r    r 
m  en  en  in  en  eno  NMr^enenO 
O        cnoe»        en 


m 

CO 

co 


O    C*  CO    N  CO    TtCO    rt  tO    TfNONOOO  W  N         COW    TJ-OO 

N  en  f*  t  O  too  MOwr^Nttcn       •-"        »«       «  M  Ooo 


encomr^OmOOMMini^OOO't  O  N  t^l^-ON 
t  en  M  w  en  mo  r^  M  mo  r^NtenN  «  o  t^r^mi^. 
cnvoi-icnor^enmrfinOmOinNO  O  -*  OOOen 


o  o  O  t  ino  O 
coNine^OOO 
Ommwenenen 


oo 
N 


«        M  eno  in 
O        mmenw 


^2-5^'s^s'S.s§)   I   s    s:.§-11 

R  —  8  S _r  * ^1  -*  82^ «T  S -5  8  U  8  J  i  .5     ,9 


M  ei  en  f  u->o  roo  O>  O 


168B|S§ 

ti     2^    S3 


158 


Statistical  notes  on  flDejico. 


< 


ifc 


•^  ts.vq_  cj  q. 
M"OO^  ^  t^oo" 


II 


$8 


ro  o>  w  to      to 

fai      " 

tC  cooo" 


zl 


-e  1  * 


*£ 

° 

J 


« 

IO 

cooo^  q. 
' 


Hi 

£<oi» 

— . 


«  00    «  OO    •*•  t-» 

CO  10VO  VO    ON  CT> 

vo'  «ooo  ro  ^  4 

CO  N    O    H    ^t-  M 


H  a 


-s 


vo   t^  O   •*•  <*- 

vo   «  VO  vo  N 

«00   000  H 

" 


o  t**  o^  to  M 

VO     t^«  O^  H     O\  t 

^-vp^  ro  tovo_ 

^  ON  cToN  m< 


' 


lOOO 


^*  ^  CO 


sv5«;    r* 

ro  •*£  CO  3^  ej_       »O  « 


ON  CO  H     *<*• 
N    tx  t^  O 

10        _vo  v 


«        "H 

•-f      ^ 


H     SI 


vo  vo  o  txoo  oo  t-» 

M     •<(•   M  VO     CO  O>  N 

vq.  H  co  osoo  voq. 

VO  OO    N    O^VO  CO  tv 

M    M    0>M    f.  0000 

O    M    M    O    M  MM 


to  CO  t^  O>  M  vo  ro 

vq^  to  co  o>  M^  c^  q 

vfT'ro  fx  io  M   M"  o" 

M     T(-           O          VO  VO 


«$•    M      ^f    CO  IO 


1O  O>  N     O     H     M     Q\     0\ 

•<*•        ^OMMVOOO 
CO         NMO»*'-«*'w]« 


00^  IO 


^ 


O  ^  t-^oo  *-  o  •  vo 

VO  H  O  CO  C^  O  CO 
•^  ^-  IO  IAVO  O  |  t>. 
•^  tx  -^  tx  CO  O^'  tx 


O  M    OO      M      M      ^f    M 

10     vo  to  ro  o>  M  o 
<>       ro  •<?  o>  H^vcToo 


%     S.S 

tx      *O.  O 

10  o>  -«?op"  M"      to  c 


vo 

oo       to 


^%SrR 

JWH  « 


r^       •^•owio-^-ioo 

00         VO    TJ-  N    0>00    N  i    ro 

to       M  rooo  0  vo  vo_|oo 
4 


vo   to  tv  M         O 
M    t^  CO  M          tx 

t-  CO  H     •*  N 


10  10  CO  «          CO 
ON  CO  10  O         10 

•*•<»-  M     5}-         00 


•    IO  W    *O 

.   co  c     0 

" 


3- 

VO 


CO  CO 


mu  f 

COVO' 


rov      i 

H   * 


2  558,    8 


dVO    N 

rrs 


?    v8 


ains 
ucts 
ufact 


i.  Ani 

Animal 
A  nimal 
Animal 


4S5.S41 


|*4:  il 

^t  ' 


co    OvjH45Oaj(J 


^.0   o 


Urafce, 


159 


I  append  a  statement  which  shows  the  imports  and  exports  of 
Mexico  during  the  two  fiscal  years  1894-1895  and  1895-1896,  both  by 
countries  and  by  custom-houses,  and  the  imports  and  duties  by  coun- 
tries in  the  fiscal  years  1888-1889  and  1889-1890. 

Exports.  —  It  would  be  difficult  to  make  a  correct  statement  of  our' 
exports  previous  to  the  fiscal  year  1867-1868.  Their  amount  was  very 
small  for  reasons  already  given,  and  as  they  principally  consisted  in 
silver,  and  almost  all  the  silver  coined  was  exported  the  coinage  of 
which  we  have  exact  records,  can  be  taken  as  the  amount  of  exports, 
with  the  addition  of  from  30  to  40  per  cent.,  representing  the  silver 
both  in  coin  and  bullion  smuggled.  I  give  a  correct  statement  of  our 
exports  of  agricultural  commodities  from  the  fiscal  year  1877-1878  to 
1895-1896,  and  also  a  statement  of  our  exports  of  other  commodities 
from  the  fiscal  year  1886-1887  to  r  895-1  896,  which  shows  the  rapid 
pace  at  which  they  are  increasing. 

The  exports  from  Mexico  are  embraced  in  the  following  articles  : 

FRUITS. 


MINERALS. 

Chapopote. 

Coal. 

Copper  in  bars. 

Gold  and  silver  coin. 

Gold  and  silver  bullion 

Lead  in  pigs. 

Onyx. 

Opals. 


ANIMAL  PRODUCTS. 

Bones. 
Cattle. 

Chihuahua  terriers. 
Donkeys. 
Goats. 
Hair,  horse. 
Hair,  rabbit. 
Heron  feathers. 


Ores  of  silver,  copper,  and    Hides.  ra^  and  tanned. 


lead. 

AGRICULTURAL  PRODUCTS. 
Beans. 


Hoofs. 
Horns. 
Horses. 

Mules. 


Bitter  almonds  and  various    Ox  grease. 


fruits,  kernels. 
Chick-peas. 
Cocoa. 
Coffee. 
Honey. 
India-rubber. 
Molasses. 

Piloncillo  (brown  sugar). 
Sugar,  all  grades. 

FIBRES. 
Henequen. 
Ixtle. 

Mallows  fibre. 
Pita. 
Ramie. 
Sotol. 
Wool. 


Sheep. 

Skins   of  sheep  and  goat, 

dressed  and  undressed. 

MANUFACTURES. 

Cotton,  linen,  worsted  and 
silk  domestic  shawls  (re- 
bozos). 

Guadalajara  earthenware. 

Maguey,  brandy  (Tequila 
and  mescal. 

Preserved  sweet  meats. 

Rag  puppets  and  dolls. 

Rags  (all  sorts). 


Bananas. 

Cocoanuts. 

Lemons. 

Limes. 

Oranges. 

Pine  apples. 

Walnuts,  Nuevo  Leon. 

Tamarind  pulp. 

FORESTRY. 

Cabinet  woods,  mahogany, 
moral,  lind-aloe,  tepe- 
guaje,  cedar,  sandal,  eb- 
ony, and  rosewood. 

Dye  woods,  brasil,  camphor, 
moral,  and  other  varieties 
of  logwood. 

Orchilla. 

SUNDRIES. 

Copal,  chick,  and  sundry 
resinous  substances. 

Jalap,  and  other  medicinal 
herbs. 

Mother  of  pearl  shells. 

Pearls. 


Wax,  artificial   flowers  and  Tortoise  shell  from  the  Gulf 

figures.  of  Cortez. 

Woollen  and  worsted  Mexi-  Vanilla. 

can    plaids    or    blankets  Zacaton   brush  and  broom 

(Zarapes).  grasses. 


160 


Statistical  IRotes  on  /IDejico* 


3  co^ 

M   ON 


Ojttt'O 


i.  ^  *•  -  V  V  ».  ^  ••  ~  -  -  •-  pi  i.  i-  » 
M  VO  VO  1O  M  OO  tx  «  •**-,>  ONOO  OO  O  CO  ^*  tx 
M  tx.  TJ-OO  10  ^  CO  O  u-l  10  tx.  N  OO  W  IOV3  N 
CO«N«-*MO;M^(S  vo  O,  N_  O;  MM 
ro  10  ^foo'  co  M"  co 


10  t-  OO   M   10  OGONiOMiotxio  -^-vo   ON  O1  t-x  t^  covo    ^•^•t^^-mo    NOOvovO   W   ^t-O* 

«    ON  txvo    N  \0  ¥•  COVO    •+  kvo    CO  iO  10  ^-  Tl-00    Ot>-M    ON(N    ONCOON  4S    tx  CO  CO  -5"  CO 

ONOO  VOMIO  VO«P)(NVOC)ONCOON05COOO   -*vo   rx.  t^vo^oo^  N  vo   -^-  O    tx.  10  CO  u^  10 

"  lovcToo'  t^i  oo'  iovo'  tC  co  o'  o'  &00   M"  M"  o^vo'  ONVcfo"  «'  co  •<?  tC  <s"  10  -^  ti  cT  o'*O*  eT 

•^         lOtx,  MMO1O        OOIOMVONON  t-»VO    M    10  ON  M    «    M    fxOO  00    M    1000    tx  ON  M 

«VO  MCOCO1O  MOO  M10VOVO  MCOMVO  MM  « 


VOMt^-^-OCOMONNON  1OOO  O*  H  VO  tx  ON  M 
^-Ht^QO>COMONOOt^'N'*'  •*  tx  t^  5  •* 
MM  t^v£5  JO  ^VO  ^.MMlTXSt-NOMOO 


$90,8 


^*"  O*  tx 

O     CO  O^ 

vcTvo"  i-T 

00     tx 
M    10 


^^-^o^S^^-RS 

•4-  CO  M    M  VO    ^-VO    -*00 


O   IOCOIOONO-OVO    N   O   M   fxoo   ON  M   10  10  i 
I^ONONWOO    txlOM    COfx^-Q    CO-^-lOCOO    ' 

txvp^  ^^o^ONq^iococ^q^-*  o^vc3_  t>.  100 

'N"oNO"M"»H"cON'txN'cOO*"cO1 
ON         ^J-OO    COOO    -^         COVO    IO  W 


ou3 


IS  IllU  I 


t       oo    .  vo 

VOOO^O.t^ 

•*;  0,  fj;   .  0_ 
vcf  ef  cf  ;  H" 


§ 


vo  N 

COIN 

10  M 


o  « 

00    t^ 


_  . 

C^  CO  H 


MONCO 


IT- 


o  : 


I 


v 

CO  M 


* 


•^00^  q_      IN  vo  ON  M^  i 

ON  tC  ON 


"  o"      co  ef 
" 


3  OO  vo     •    CO  W   tx.oo  OO   ON  ON  0)   0s  ON 
3  00   10    •  vo    ro  I-^vo   -^-  M         co  M   CO 

yjTo  M_  •  co  q^  q.  •*  •*  co      q_  M_  M^ 


8  g||||  g 


tx,MOOOO    O    COlOONO    i 
COCTVOVO    ^-1ON    ^lO' 

10  cooo"      oo'  o'  co  10  M'  i 
ro  ro  l~»        M  <O        00  vo 

10   N  VO  f)     M  M 

OO'VO'C* 


wgwwfoino    -o^ioroi 
vo^o  w  HVOVO  m  -oo  -^-\o  < 

•^•fOMrOfO^-H     -«OOMi 

?      2    *    :£-*%' 


2^00 


•^-tx 

81  8, 


£5 


.  ,        , 

-  2     ***  So     t«  S 


$22,4 


w   H   c 

H  ^ 


M.S  N  g;-2.s_o 


ail*  6 

-§-8lfS, 


foreign  Ura&e.  16 1 

The  following  is  a  list  of  the  value  of  metals  and  commodities 
exported  from  Mexico  during  the  fiscal  year  1895-1896,  which  shows 
that  they  are  all  either  mineral  or  agricultural  products,  these  being 
only  raw  materials  :  The  commodities  are  placed  in  the  order  of  their 
relative  importance  in  value. 

METALS. 

Gold  ore $160,555 

Gold  coin 169,794 

Gold  bullion 20,377,663 

Silver  ore 10,885,479 

Silver  coin 5,246,418 

Silver  bullion 26,345,160 

Sulphate  of  silver 1,030,156 

Foreign  gold  and  silver  and  silver  in  other  combina- 
tions         623,371 


Total $64,838,596 

COMMODITIES. 

Coffee $8,103,302 

Henequen 6,763,821 

Cabinet  and  dye  woods 4,206,880 

Copper 3,909,485 

Lead 2,531 ,624 

Live  animals 3,546,770 

Hides  and  skins 2,331,999 

Chewing  gum 1,527,838 

Tobacco i  ,461,090 

Vanilla 1,428,675 

Ixtle 690,862 

Zacaton — broom  root 616,492 

Chick-peas 352,737 

Coal 270, 176 

Marble 258,668 

Fruits 246,150 

Sugar 169,662 

Horse  hair,  beans,  and  jalap 247,768 

All  others..                      1, 5*4,307 


Total 40, 178,306 


$105,016,902 

VOL.  I — II 


162 


Statistical  Hotes  on 


00 


o    w 
fc    fc 

I- 


|3  I'll  a 

H  >^  £,« 

*0         vS 


*1 

|1 


"vb~  M~  »o  i 


10  «n  «  w  o 

illl! 


M   t^  m  M 
«   to  H   ro 


iiti 


VO    M    to  (M    M          10         H 

1000  H  m  to  I    to      M 


». 

oo 


M  \o        t^  ro 


H  ' 


§  §4 


$2, 


I       I 


il  il 

2    g    S    S 


&   I  & 

.s  s 

i  iki-A,  "3   g  I  § 

^ov^^*    ^o     ^      o  ^ 


•j  I 


foreign 


163 


oo 

CO 


I 


O     °° 

»__        w 


81 


AL 
UE 

por 


est 
ce 


mm 


Ssfij 

8i5P 

s  1s 


s-sre^ 

to  ro  tx  txv 
10  f*5  M"  pTo 


SJ8S& 


•si 


$30,2 


?&?&& 


H     H     tx  CO  tx 
«™°,t 

^& 


>0   0 


10  0s  ^  H  10 


VO     CO  M     M 

f^vo  *O  O* 


f 


ill  g  I  illlN  a  j  I 

MM  I  i  MM!  J  3  *  i 

i::;l  s,   iiiiil  s.!  S, 

^gvli    -2     55     isSJ5^    .S  *     * 


00  00  00  00  00 


^ 


bo      „, 


II 


164 


Statistical  IFlotes  on 


ON 

00 


o 

CO 

W 

I 

g 


00 


{ih 

H<?S& 


Weight  in 
Kilograms. 


Mex 

cy. 


Valu 
Cu 


*? 


Value  in 
Mexican 
Currency 


Weight  in 
Kilograms. 


0 

1  ^ 


ro  «vo  •*  co 


tx  Tt-vo  vo   tx 
vo  to  10  O   ^* 

o°.vq.vq.  «^  t 
•^oo"  tCco"  o" 


«"  H  cT  co 


o^ET&Jx 

M     •*•  «O  M     O 

<>  ef  4  H  «" 


.c 

H  vo   to  COVO 


W     M  l/>   W 

OHO    1OCO 
CO    «    &«    iD 


CO  OO  CO  CO  CO 


CO  CO  CO  CO  00 


IOVOVO    V)  t> 


l  +  l 


x- 

<N    CO1 


tx<svo  « 


H|»vg 
?  ^  t  ?s 

10  covo  vo   ro 


slip 

co  •*  ro  «  co 


O  CO  M    O 
N  to  tx  tx 


oo  «ovo 

^J-  O    -*" 
^  M 


•*  0  O> 
CO  O  IO 
0  0  rO 


?o'VS)<S) 
«  5  vo  o 


ON  cT  fTco'co" 

}$S29 


O^  O*  t^vo   t^ 

"    "    " 


W   OJCOVO 


M  O     tx  M 

^SgK' 


CO  00  CO  CO  CO 


9,685,024 
0,715,704 
2,215,845 
7,037,689 


10  IOVO  > 


M"  co  6"  co 

O"CO    M    CO 
CO  C>  CO  CO 


ON  O  CO  N 
txvo'  O*  CO 

«  NO     IX  O 


?  ON^3-^0    ! 

O-  10VO  to  j 
4vo"  «"  to  ' 
toco  to^- 

•^CO'VO"  w" 


SiiSf 


mco  ^00 


0 

v     o 


CO  CO  CO  CO 


$8 


•S       s,    P-OM 

I"!  IIS 


^3  O      -5-S<0 

I    liii 

I- I  lit 


rt  .ti  «  * 

«  S  S  NO"  «  « 

2  y-   -     P  ^"S  S| 

.253        -fl  fSS 


Ki 
|1 

^•Sss 

II 


s  -  ^^ 

•|  lh£ 

e  S«^ 

=  ..«?.~  - 


bg§« 


g|    lisil 

S-c-  -  £>  §  rt  8 

B  H*  '     H      C    *• 

is  S,     fves's- 


*!iJ!l>;Ki 


w          ^"Stfc,  J>  5  "*• 

?»15Slif 


jforetgn 


165 


N 

ON 
00 


TO  JUNE  30 


% 


EXICO  FROM  JULY 
US  AND  OTHER  META 


RTS  FROM 
PRE 


PO 


$ 


tCtCcocoM'iOM'tC  c?ocT  •^co'oo 

M    10         CO  10  f.  CO  O  10  tj  CTv  t-.  VO 


*5 


«2  t  «  *  * 

VO  VO     H     O     H 


8828  : 


8  8  S  8 


oo  txvo  tx  10 
oo  10  N  O  10 

t^CTV^lOW 

6^  H"  10  c?  co 
MMN^VO 

CON 


O   O  10  ^*"  O 
OOOONO 


o  0  oo  0  t** 


8O  00    O 
0    fO'O 


vo  t       c 


8.S  i-co  * 


COVO   W   t^  M 
NOONCMO 


covo  oo  w  txvo 


, 

OOWO^OOOO 

*>nigi 


o  \O    t^Or^O    MOO    NOOVO    0 
iOw    ION    C^O    N    txVO    H    O  ro 

°,  1  1  0-  ">»  H,  N,  H,°°  t 

O    N    M-  O    H  t>-  H    -<J-OO    N    N 


O     -VOCOQ 
•*-CTiNO 


OiOO     -OVO 
VOHOV-OJM 

ItfS 


56, 


2     ; 


j 

'  °-- 


3-8*1? 


.wjSPSHW' 

O>  ^  O    O    COOO         OO    N    CO  ts,  <^- 

w  MVO  m      M       in  txonoo 


ls°; 

&*& 


O  *"' 

I     8 


2,441  oo 
2,177  oo 
1,024  96 


M    fx 


8eS«3 

H  00   CO 

SftfL 

H     tCc? 

«  vo 


o  0  oo 


CO  •*  TJ-  f^  t^  CO  COOO  00  O  O 
H  -^-OO  ^OO  H  \O  CO  M  "^OO 
co  too  vo  o  »\  H  ^»c» 


8  8>!?8  58  8$ 

VO    C»OO   U1VO    CO  Cf> 

m  ro  co  ro  «  o  P« 


8O   O   w   O   O   O 
Ooo  m-*  Ooo 


o  c   10 

^    * 


. 

10  •*  cT          co  cC 


;  *•  i 


J-5I    i 


1 66 


Statistical  motes  on  flDejfco. 


M   OO   OIOPO^UIM   O   O   0   OOO   QiT 
O^OMOONko^iOfOOOOOWOM 

H     H  OO     I 
t^  1O  I"**  ( 


8N88<S8 


N?1 

M  ON  en  en  d  06  vo  ON' 


8%  8  2<S  8 


*8  8 


8  8  8  8  8  £  8  #$3  8  S 


S,o8 


M  oo  t>.  o 

00 


00    W  00  VO 
1O  M    CO  Cf 

«  "  H°° 


$20, 


?  SB  8  K8  8  8 


o  w  0*^0*0 
co"  co  10  t^.  tC  A     oo"-* 

CT-WMM        NN 
in     oo 


£  !?  S  <&  &  $8  2  S^  5J, 

O  MOO  coio  1/100  t*»  O  H  10 

•<?  M"  -^  d"  w"  eT  cT  M'OO"  M"  o" 
uiinMu-noMMMOiMi-i 


12.8  ?<8v3  8,8 


CJJ«     H 


i 


»»•  O    M    ^-  N  OO    M' 

ts  •*  H  vo  rovo  O 
Q  OO    N  CO    H    lOVO 


oo  vo  vo  t^oo  o  oo  en  en  c* 


eneno  -*HOO  O»M 

lOO    WOO    MVOVOOO 


o  moo  1000  t^  ^vo 
ON  cT  w"  lovo"  d»  10  M"  M"  o\ 

tx  H  00     H     »  Mm 


H  eT 


MOO 


00    O    10  ONVO    8  VO    < 

&§jhyri?4LI 

*>  P.v5  0.00  O  ON£ 


o  :  ft'S  :  &  SM 

0    •  ««•  ON  •  r^  >o  10 

•^  I  oo"  -^  I  oo"  en  cf 


8  rSSo 
<S  :i^ 

V   •  oo  o\  «  0  «  •*  t-oo 


•  e» 


tOiOVO   0 
looo  enoo 

I  I  5 


Is*  c<  oo  "^  O 
M  10  co  ^j-  5 


<S  S§,Sv3" 


O  vo   O  vo   M   10 


n 


oo"  a\  t^ 


:    2  3  :  :  : 
J  J  * 


*  S 


S  8  : 
8  ll  i 


foreign  Urafce. 


167 


O          •«- 

M      • 

C>     "2 


»O        M          H       VO          ID        ON        t->      VO          M 


V     <V  9t  0  {*}  ft  tf      ft      0)      tt  3 

t     H  ON  £  o;  .0  .0     ro     o,     tx  q« 

(•»     o  t>  vo  «  co  10    oo     10     •*•  vo 

>o  *  <&  •**•?*  ? 


ID         ON        t->      VO          M          O 

0)      tt      3       •      t9      0 

o      tx        «    «     vo     vo. 


"^9     2     °     9     9     ^   ^     "**    ^"    9     *°    *S     £?    S     S"    3" 

vOOO^'OOtxvO'O'^'QC^Ot^'OOO 
—  r\otOcoHO«Ot>.oocOHir>O^\OH^* 

s  &  ?  I  $  >  t  :3  1 1  f  f  ^  a  3 1 1  2 


S  8  8  3-  8  8  E 

IO   CO   M    H    •*   (N    O 
10   CO  OO   OO    CS1    •*   g. 


8  K  8  8 

ON  CO  10  M 

0)  O  w  CO 

CO  CO  CO  M" 


A  2    8 


8    8 


o\  8    8 


8    8 


o  H 


oo" 


858  & 


S;    «&  S; 
I    S3- 


lOlOtxCOlOQ         COOlO        1000 
VOOO«HCOOONCOOOO> 


M         1O1OH 


52  8 


r 

VO.    vo_      « 

00   " 


o 

CO      o, 


5-oT8    a  8 


.  5  . 

H\O          (N        VO          O^Ct          O>H          CO 
C0«0  lO 


&txonaoor*-*- 

txcoovo      ONVO     01      O 
<M      f»vo      r^vo      t^o      H 


S 

i, 

S       * 

( 

r  articles  

i 

rt 

!§ 

1 


i     ! 

t*  ^o 

CO 
»  4A 


OO  HJ 

I      I 


£>       CO  « 

ON     O  O 

8*     S 


'a 


vS 


8 


I  i     -a 
3  s     s 


168 


Statistical  IRotes  on  /iDejico, 


88  :5o8S?8 

n-';$2 

Q     t*+     •     ^*  O 


\O  *o 

" 


ssays 

0  «  o;  o  co 
H    HI    Oi  N    N 

« 


* 


CO  n  vo   O 
M  o>  ro  O 

rx  m  o  m 


885- 


82^; 


CO  O  fo 


00 
08 
so 


104,343  60 
6,576,120  09 


8  &8 


5-8S 


MUOfcOOOfflfctfaSwa 


8S8 


fxoo  in  tx  .  ro  o  O>  »x 
Mura-M     •\OOOO-* 


M"  co       ;  d» 


vooo 

- 


88 


co  I  o"  «  o-  * 

I  ft        t^  N 


i 

.M      .CO 


tx^NO  «O  »t^CO 

VO  CO  »O  0  -0  •    t^OO 

ro  CO  O<vO  •  O  *  O   O 

'  -   M  ^  S.  S> 


o  O  •*  vo  • 
vo  r>.  o  «    • 

M    fxVO  • 


*  2  8  : 


3,8 


vo"  o>  •£ 

IO  M  VO 

in  tv  5 


IHl 

ISf 


Iforeian  Urafce* 


169 


SSro? 

5.M  rxo- 

<»       *8 
P 

I 

88 

8 

•^ 

1 

I 

88 

fa 

ft 

(S 

o 

1 

w 

ro 

3 

$ 

:8 

tx 

88 

00 

i 

1 

:| 

I 

II 

ro 

0\ 

O 

• 

0 

w 

1 

j 

1 

vS 

:  8 

8 

8 

8 

vo 

oo 

1 

iS 

8 

§5 

CO 

cT 

\ 

? 

- 

m 

! 

? 
<«• 

1 

A 

8 

M 

8 
8 

•<*• 

J 

ro 

1 

« 

i 

« 

8 

8 

1 

Cx 

VO 

§ 

i 

£ 

: 

i 

1 

rx 
•» 

: 

tx 

£ 

8 

i 

8 

8 

% 

1 

I 

6* 

0 

« 

in 
5- 

tx 

* 

s 

K 

m 

o1 

00 

1 

«• 

«O 
<f* 

1o 

8 

8 

:  :8 

VO 
10 

1 

I 

0 

1 

li| 

VO 

s 

1 

•fr 

;  ; 

£ 

<£ 

00 

"8 

8 

8 

888 

•8 
1 

1 

o" 

to 

i 

§8 

cT 

» 

cj" 

<fir 

<&• 

2  :  :  :  :  8  8  :  : 

JJ 

V 

I  NlliH 

ro 

«T 

I 

ro 

•» 

S 

8 

8 

8 

vg 

& 

I 

1 

1 

K 

tx 

s? 

I 

•R 

•g. 

00 
M 

«" 
t» 

^ 

.  .  . 

• 

7  o 

: 

: 

0 
H 

11 

j 

^& 

1 

•MQi 

I*O 

a 

Q 

11  1. 

a^Jl 

<J^^CL,p 

ill    1 

n  «  N  S       H 

"  >.S  a 

Izlj 

'vo     •OO>'CMC«O»tx'o>-«-Ko^ 


"  8"  8  •  moo  $5?  -vS* 

•  •  «ovo  a    I   H   -i-co   M     "•   M 

•  •'VMM      •1O^*04H      •    m 

•  •  oo  *r  w    •  «ooo^  tx  tx  .  q; 

ft     •vHl.s'i'g 

*    CO  N    O  * 


:  :$:  r&^Si,^  :«888 


8  : 


4,000  oo 
4,635  oo 
515,193  74 

44,983,086  37 


S^ffJ?    8  '888 


f>    •   ON  tx    • 

oo    -too    - 


OOO 
P>  K  « 

oo  10  IN 


o  -88  -t^«txo  •  •  *8 


8  :?  :  :^>8S8  :?  :  8 
8.  :?  :  :*ftl4i  ^~ 

fO     .VO       .       -    <£VS    NOO       •    H 

cT  :  o  :  :  >o  o"  tC  4  :  « 

ro.w    *     .cocjvovo     .01 

.  *  .   .  «  *  «2      . 

M    H    IO 


8  : 


8  :?  :8SSvS8  :  :  |8 

O>   I  oo"   I        •*  1000"  ro   I    I    I 

N  :S?  :     82  S^  :  :  : 


88  :S  : 


I 


o  co  •  •* 

N    W      •    IS 


4,709  33 
3i523  78 

9,594  59 
9,706  oo 


8tx  O   •*•  Q 
M   0   0   0 

>noo  M  o 
•^•^•vo  >o 


888  :B  : 

|?|l|i 

cT  10^0"  I  ^?  I 

O    1  oo    I 


ijijl^^^ 

fl 


1 


170  Statistical  Botes  on  fl&ejico. 


TRADE    BETWEEN    MEXICO    AND    THE    UNITED    STATES. 

It  is  quite  difficult  to  make  a  correct  statement  of  the  trade  between 
Mexico  and  the  United  States,  because  the  official  data  of  both  govern- 
ments never  used  to  agree,  especially  on  account  of  the  different  cur- 
rencies prevailing  in  the  two  countries.  As  we  have  the  silver  standard, 
all  our  public  accounts  are  kept  in  silver,  and  that  makes  our  exports 
appear  twice  as  large  in  value  as  they  really  are,  when  stated  in  the 
money  of  the  United  States,  while  we  give  our  imports  in  the  value  of  the 
country  from  whence  they  come,  that  is  their  gold  value.  That  fact, 
which  has  often  been  overlooked,  has  caused  the  prevailing  idea  that 
there  is  a  very  large  balance  of  trade  in  favor  of  Mexico,  because 
the  exports  of  United  States  commodities  in  Mexico  amount  to  a  given 
figure  a  year,  the  imports  to  this  country  of  Mexican  commodities 
amount  to  over  double  that  figure  ;  but  it  must  be  borne  in  mind  that 
the  former  is  in  silver  while  the  latter  is  in  gold.  For  instance,  accord- 
ing to  the  Mexican  Bureau  of  Statistics  the  imports  into  Mexico  of 
merchandise  from  the  United  States  in  the  fiscal  year  ended  June  30, 
1896,  amounted  to  $20,145,763,  while  the  exports  of  metals  and  com- 
modities from  Mexico  to  the  United  States  during  the  same  year 
amounted  to  $79,651,695,  the  proportion  being  almost  four  to  one  ;  but 
if  the  imports  are  doubled  as  they  ought  to  be,  because  the  Mexican 
currency  is  silver,  they  amount  to  $40,291,526,  and  if  the  exports  of 
Mexico  into  the  United  States,  calculated  also  in  silver,  are  reduced  to 
gold,  they  will  amount  to  one  half  or  $39,825,847.50. 

In  corroboration  of  this  statement  I  will  mention  the  fact  that  ac- 
cording to  the  data  of  the  Statistical  Bureau  of  the  United  States 
Treasury  Department,  the  exports  to  Mexico  of  commodities  and  pre- 
cious metals  from  the  United  States  during  the  last  fiscal  year,  end- 
ing June  30,  1897,  amounted  to  $23,535,213  while  the  imports  into  the 
United  States  of  commodities  and  precious  metals  amounted  to  $30,- 
714,366.  Since  March  1893,  however,  the  Statistical  Bureau  of  the 
United  States  Treasury  Department,  has  reduced  to  gold  the  silver 
value  of  the  Mexican  metals  and  commodities  imported  in  this  coun- 
try, and  its  data  come  now  nearer  to  the  mark,  as  in  the  year  1896  it 
gives  the  total  exports  of  merchandise  from  this  country  into  Mexico 
as  $19,450,256,  while  the  total  imports  of  merchandise  from  Mexico 
into  this  country  are  $17,456,177. 

The  figures  of  our  exports  appear  very  large  in  the  Mexican  re- 
turns, because  our  merchandise  is  sold  in  gold  markets,  and  their  gold 
price  is  reduced  to  silver,  and  increased  in  the  same  proportion  in 
which  silver  depreciates.  It  is  not  therefore  the  amount  of  merchan- 
dise which  has  increased  so  much,  as  that  the  price  has  been  swollen  in 
reducing  it  from  gold  to  silver.  In  that  regard  the  returns  from  the 
United  States  Statistical  Bureau  are  more  in  conformity  with  the  facts. 


witb  tbe  mnitefc  States,  171 

Another  cause  of  the  discrepancy  between  the  statistics  of  both 
countries  is  that  the  Statistical  Bureau  of  the  United  States  Treasury 
Department  had  not,  prior  to  March  3,  1893,  any  data  of  commodities 
exported  to  Mexico  by  way  of  the  frontier,  as  there  was  no  law 
which  provided  for  the  collection  of  such  data,  and  a  very  large 
portion  of  the  trade  between  the  two  countries  is  carried  on  by  the 
frontier,  especially  since  the  railroads  connecting  both  countries  were 
finished.1  That  deficiency  was  only  in  relation  to  the  exports,  as  the 
imports  were  duly  declared  for  the  payment  of  duties,  and  therefore 
the  statistics  of  the  United  States  necessarily  were  deficient  and  incom- 
plete about  the  exports  to  Mexico  of  United  States  commodities,  and 
that  accounts  in  a  great  measure  for  the  discrepancy  between  the 
official  data  published  by  both  governments,  and  for  the  great  dis- 
crepancy between  exports  and  imports  which  appear  in  the  statistics  of 
the  United  States  for  those  years. 

From  the  preceding  remarks  it  will  be  understood  why  there  is 
such  a  great  discrepancy  between  the  data  of  the  respective  Bureaus. 

It  is  very  difficult  to  make  a  correct  statement  of  the  trade  between 
the  two  countries  previous  to  the  organization  of  the  Bureau  of  Statistics 
of  the  United  States  ;  but  I  found  in  a  book  published  in  Washington 
in  1860  by  Mr.  Carlos  Butterfield,  entitled  "  The  United  States  and 
Mexican  Mail  Steamship  Line  and  Statistics  of  Mexico,"  a  statement 
of  the  imports  and  exports  between  Mexico  and  the  United  States  from 
1826  to  1858,  taken  as  he  states  from  official  data  of  the  United  States 
Treasury  Reports,  which  I  will  use. 

That  statement  is  complemented  by  two  tables  furnished  to  me  by 
Hon.  Worthington  C.  Ford,  Chief  of  the  Bureau  of  Statistics  of  the 
Treasury  Department.  The  first  contains  a  statement  of  the  trade  be- 
tween the  United  States  and  Mexico,  during  the  forty-six  years  from 
1851  to  1897,  and  the  second  is  a  full  statement  of  that  trade,  includ- 
ing gold  and  silver  during  the  same  period.  (Pages  174  and  175.) 

I  have  prepared  besides  from  the  official  publications  of  the  Bureau 
of  Statistics  of  the  United  States  Treasury  Department,  a  detailed 
statement  of  the  commodities  imported  into  the  United  States  from 
Mexico,  and  exported  from  the  United  States  to  Mexico  during  the 

1  For  these  reasons  the  statements  of  the  Statistical  Bureau  of  the  United  States, 
previous  to  the  fiscal  year  ended  June  30,  1892,  contained  the  following  foot-note  : 

"  In  the  absence  of  law  providing  for  the  collection  of  statistics  of  exports  to  ad- 
jacent foreign  territory  over  railways,  the  values  of  exports  to  Mexico,  from  1883  to 
1893  inclusive,  have  been  considerably  under-stated.  Since  March,  1893,  there  has 
been  a  law  in  force  for  the  collection  of  exports  by  railways.  According  to  official  in- 
formation from  Mexican  sources,  the  value  of  imports  into  that  country  from  the 
United  States  during  the  year  ending  June  30,  1888,  was  $19,264,673,  including  pre- 
cious metals  valued  at  $38,362.  Prior  to  1866  the  figures  include  gold  and  silver  im- 
ported and  exported.  For  1866  and  subsequent  years,  merchandise  only." 


172 


Statistical  motes  on 


years  1858  to  1897,  which  is  complete  so  far  as  the  records  of  this 
government  go,  and  contains  very  valuable  information. 

I  will  give  first  a  partial  statement  prepared  by  the  Bureau  of  Sta- 
tistics of  the  Mexican  Government  of  the  total  imports  to  Mexico  and 
the  imports  from  the  United  States  of  America  from  the  fiscal  year 
1872-1873  to  1895-1896,  and  then  another  detailed  statement  prepared 
by  the  same  Bureau  of  the  total  exports  from  Mexico  and  the  exports 
to  the  United  States  of  America  from  the  fiscal  year  1877-1878  to 
1895-1896. 

From  said  data  it  will  be  seen  that  the  trade  of  Mexico  with  the 
United  States  is  increasing  very  rapidly,  notwithstanding  the  difficulty 
thrown  in  the  way  by  high  protective  tariffs.  Only  a  few  years  ago,  as 
will  be  seen  by  the  appended  statement,  our  largest  trade  was  with  Great 
Britain,  the  United  States  occupying  the  second  place,  while  now  the 
United  States  occupies  the  first  place,  both  in  amount  of  our  exports 
and  imports.1 

Value  of  exports  during  the  fiscal  year  1872-1873  with  their  desti- 
nation. 


Great  Britain $12,479,547-75 

United  States 11,366,530.76 

France 4,604,417.38 

Panama  (New  Grenada). . .     1,579,015.12 

Germany 802,643.83 

Spain  and  the  Island  of  Cuba        752,891.91 


Guatemala  and  Honduras.  80,999.52 

Italy 17,389.00 

Belgium 4,784.00 

Ecuador 2,931.75 


Total $31,691,151.02 


TOTAL   IMPORTS   TO   MEXICO    AND   IMPORTS   FROM    THE   UNITED  STATES 
FOR  THE  FISCAL  YEARS,  1872-1873   TO  1895-1896. 


IMPORTS  FROM  THE 
UNITED  STATES. 

TOTAL  IMPORTS. 

Value. 

Value. 

1872—1873                                    .                   . 

$5  231,  255 

$20,166,013 

1873—  1874 

5,946,614 

23,282,299 

l874-l87<i.  . 

5,028,636 

18,793,494 

1884  1885  First  6  months 

5  O45  531 

11,893,342 

1885  1886  First  6  months     

5,145,736 

10,585,898 

1888—1889     

22,669,421 

40,024,894 

29,080,276 

52,018,659 

1802  1893                                       .  . 

26,235,963 

43,413,131 

180^—1804 

14,351,785 

30,287,489 

15,130,367 

34,000,440 

1895-1896  

20,145,763 

42,253,938 

MEXICO,  November,  1896. 

1  This  statement  is  corroborated  by  the  following  extract  from  an  official  report 
addressed  to  Lord  Salisbury  by  Mr.  Lionel  Garden,  British  Consul-General  at  the  City 
of  Mexico,  on  the  trade  of  Mexico  during  the  year  1896  : 

"  The  great  increase  in  the  imports  of  American  goods  this  year  must  be  regarded 
by  British  merchants  and  manufacturers  as  another  warning  that  unless  they  soon  make 
a  serious  effort,  they  will  have  to  give  up  all  hope  of  profiting  by  the  increase  in  the 
Mexican  import  trade,  and  may  even  lose  part  of  the  very  limited  share  of  it  they  at 
present  enjoy." 


Urafce  witb  tbe  TUnitefc  States* 


173 


TABLE  SHOWING  THE  TOTAL  EXPORTS  FROM  MEXICO  AND  THE  EXPORTS 
TO  THE  UNITED  STATES  OF  AMERICA  FROM  THE  FISCAL  YEAR  1877- 
1878  TO  THE  YEAR  1895-1896. 


EXPORTS  TO  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

TOTAL  EXPORTS  FROM  MEXICO. 

Precious 
Metals. 

Commodities. 

Total. 

Precious 
Metals. 

Commodities. 

Total. 

1877-1878. 

$     8,664,052 

$     3,676,937 

$   12,340,989 

$   22,663,438 

$     6,622,223 

$     29,285,661 

1878-1879- 

7,439,815 

4,741,724 

12,181,539 

21,528,938 

8,362,540 

29,891,478 

1879-1880. 

6,848,231 

6,568,375 

13,416,606 

22,086,418 

10,577,^36 

32,663,554 

1880-1881. 

7,601,767 

6,556,424 

14,158,191 

J9,  354,  7°4 

io,573,994 

29,928,698 

1881-1882. 

5,451,731 

8,309,131 

13,760,862 

1  7,063,  767 

12,019,526 

29,083,293 

1882-1883. 

9,036,773 

7,702,325 

16,739,098 

29,628,658 

12,178,937 

41,807,595 

1883-1884. 

12,822,241 

9,002,160 

21,824,401 

33,473,283 

13,252,213 

46,725,496 

1884-1885. 

16,404,776 

9,448,285 

25,853,061 

33,774,051 

12,896,794 

46,670,845 

1885-1886. 

15,496,336 

9,933,259 

25,429,595 

29,906,401 

43,647,717 

1886-1887. 

16,576,120 

11,152,595 

27,728,715 

33,560,503 

15,631,427 

49,191,930 

1887-1888. 

17,915,116 

31,059,627 

31,006,188 

17,879,720 

48,885,908 

1888-1889. 

23,647,920 

17,205,443 

40,853,363 

38,785,275 

21,373,148 

60,158,423 

1889-1890. 
1890-1891. 

24,098,147 
23,400,833 

18,924,294 
21,582,253 

43,022,441 
44,983,086 

38,621,290 
36,256,372 

23,878,099 
27,020,023 

62,499,389 
63,276,395 

1891-1892. 

30,447,566 

19,485,099 

49,932,665 

49,137,304 

26,330,411 

1892-1893. 

40,113,882 

63,837,643 

56,504,305 

31,004,916 

87,509,221 

1893-1894. 
1894-1895. 
1895-1896. 

36,681,273 
38,852,843 
51,071,661 

23,978,97° 
28,470,143 
28,580,034 

60,660,243 
67,322,986 
79,651,695 

46,484,360 
52,535,854 
64,838,596 

32,858,927 
38,319,099 
40,178,306 

79,343,287 
90,854,953 
105,016,902 

Total.... 

$392,571,083 

$272,185,723 

$664,756,806 

$677,209,705 

$374,698,755 

$1,051,908,460 

STATEMENT  TAKEN  FROM  THE  UNITED  STATES  TREASURY  REPORTS 
OF  THE  COMMERCIAL  TRANSACTIONS  BETWEEN  MEXICO  AND  THE 
UNITED  STATES  FROM  1826  TO  1850. 


YEARS. 

EXPORTS  FROM 
MEXICO   INTO 
THE 
UNITED    STATES. 

EXPORTS  FROM 
THE   UNITED 
STATES    INTO 
MEXICO. 

TOTAL    TRADE 
BETWEEN 
THE 
TWO   COUNTRIES. 

1826  .  .          . 

$    3  916  ooo 

$  6  281  ooo 

$  10  197  ooo 

l827.  .  . 

e   2^2  OOO 

4  l6"3  OOO 

Q  -30^  ooo 

1828  

4  814,000 

2  886  ooo 

7,700  ooo 

I82Q... 

5,O26,76l 

2,331,151 

7,357,912 

l8^O..  . 

e  2-3^  241 

4  S"37  4^8 

10  072  600 

18-31..  ,  

5,l67,OOO 

6,178,000 

11,345,000 

18-32  

4,293,954 

3,467,541 

7,761,495 

18-3-3 

5  4^0  8l8 

5  4O8  OQI 

10,867  QOQ 

18-34..  , 

8,666,668 

5,265,053 

13,931,721 

iS-jq 

0  4QO  /i/i6 

Q  O2Q  221 

18  *IQ  667 

1836  

5  6ie;  810 

6,040,6-35 

11,6*6,4^4 

l8^7..  . 

5,654,002 

3,880,323 

9,534,325 

1838  

3,127,153 

2,787,362 

5,914,515 

I8-3Q  . 

5  500  707 

2,l64,O97 

7,664,804 

1840... 

4,175,000 

2,515,341 

6,690,341 

1841  

3,484,957 

2,O36,62O 

5,521,577 

1842  .  , 

1,096,694 

,5  -34,49-3 

•3,5-31,187 

1847..  .  . 

2,782,406 

,471,937 

4,254,343 

1844  

2,387,000 

,794,833 

4,181,833 

184^.. 

1,702,9-36 

,152,  -3  -31 

2,855,267 

1846  

1,836,621 

,531,180 

3,367,801 

1847  

746,818 

692,428 

1,439,246 

1848  

1,581,247 

4>°5s>44fi 

5,639,69-3 

1840..  . 

2,216,719 

2,090,869 

4,307,588 

1850  

2,135,336 

2,012,827 

4,148,163 

Total  

$102,245,303 

$85,610,237 

$187,855,540 

Average  

$4,080,812 

$-3  424  400 

$7,514,222 

174 


Statistical  IRotes  on 


STATEMENT  SHOWING  THE  COMMERCE  IN  MERCHANDISE  BETWEEN  THE 
UNITED  STATES  AND  MEXICO,  BY  YEARS  AND  DECADES,  FROM  1851 
TO  1897. 


YEAR 
ENDING 
JUNE  30. 

EXPORTS  FROM  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

IMPORTS  INTO  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

EXCESS  OF 
EXPORTS  (  —  } 
OR 
IMPORTS  (+). 

Domestic. 

Foreign. 

Total. 

Free. 

Dutiable. 

Total. 

i8w 

$    1,014,690 
1,406,372 
2,529,770 
2,091,870 
2.2537368 
2,464,692 
3,017,640 
2,782,852 
2,252,162 
3,309,379 

&     567,093 
878,557 
1,029,054 
1,043,616 
668,236 
I,237,°97 
597,566 
529,973 
667,580 
2,015,334 

$    1,581,783 
2,284,929 
3,558,824 
3,135,486 
2,921,604 
3,701,789 
3,615,206 
3,312,825 
2,919,742 
5,324,713 

$         27,666 
20,564 
4,148 
111,405 
17,508 
79,966 
62,307 
246,894 
234,112 
586,016 

$       693,120 
534,700 
751,952 
826,451 
887,242 
773,792 
964,566 
861,607 
1,009,972 
1,317,415 

$       720,786 
555,264 
756,100 
937,856 
904,750 
853,758 
1,026,873 
1,108,501 
1,244,084 
I,9°3,43i 

$        -860,997 
-1,729,665 

ig-3 

l8^4               .... 

-2,197,630 
—  2,016,854 
2  848  031 

j8t:6    

-  2,588,333 
-2,204,324 
-  1,675,658 
-3,421,282 

1858 

Jsfo 

Total 
10  years  .  . 

X86i    

$  23,122,795 

$     1,559,062 
1,840,720 
7,441,579 
7,765,133 
13,819,972 
3,701,599 
4,823,614 
5,048,420 
3,835,699 
4,544,745 

F  9,234,106 

1    651,364 

340,454 
1,579,045 
1,505,464 
2,530,867 
871,619 
572,182 
1,392,919 
1,047,408 

I,3I4,955 

$  32,356,901 

$    2,210,426 
2,181,174 
9,020,624 

9,270,597 
16,350,839 
4,573,2i8 
5,395,796 
6,44i,339 
4,883,107 
5,859,700 

$    1,390,586 

$       253,703 
289,011 
446,070 
385,037 
369,915 
402,568 
402,779 
482,228 
5II,3I9 
522,907 

$    8,620,817 

$       632,409 

441,977 
2,597,812 
5,743,408 
5,850,959 
1,323,524 
669,157 
,108,439 
,824,845 
,192,758 

$  10,011,403 

$        886,112 
730,988 
3,043,882 
6,128,445 
6,220,874 
1,726,092 
1,071,936 
1,590,667 
2,336,164 
2,715,665 

$-22,345,498 

$     -1,324,314 
-1,450,186 
-5,976,742 
-3,142,152 
-10,129,965 
-2,847,126 
-4,323,860 

1862 

j863    

1864 

!86s  

!866      

1867 

!868    

1869 

-2,546,943 
-3,144,035 

1870    

Total 
10  years.. 

$  54,38o,543 

$     5,044,033 
3,420,658 
3,941,019 
4,016,148 
3,872,004 
4,700,978 
4,503,802 
5,811,429 
5,400,380 
6,065,974 

£11.806.277 

$  2,568,080 
2,122,931 
2,323,882 
1,930,691 
1,865,278 
1,499,594 
1,389,692 
1,649,275 
1,351,864 
1,800,519 

$  66,186,820 

$    7,612,113 
5,543,589 
6,264,901 
5,946,839 
5,737,282 
6,200,572 
5,893,494 
7,460,704 
6,752,244 
7,866,493 

$    4,o65,537 

976,117 
1,156,257 
3,065,140 
3,026,661 
3,863,302 
3,920,633 
3,756,191 
3,723,281 
3,981,402 
4,852,659 

$    2    ,385,288 

$         ,233,571 
,846,663 
,211,025 

,319,703 
,311,292 
,229,939 
,448,073 
,528,221 
,511,819 
2,356,934 

$  26,450,825 

$    3,209,688 
4,002,920 
4,276,165 
4,346,364 
5,174,594 
5,150,572 
5,204,264 
5,251,502 
5,493,221 
7,209,593 

$-39,735,995 

$  -4,402,425 
-1,540,669 
i  988  736 

1872  

-1,600,475 
-562,688 
-  1,050,000 
-689,230 

i875  
1876  
1877      

1878 

1879  
!88o   

-  1,259,023 

Total 
10  years.. 

j88i    

$  46,776,425 

$     9,198,077 
13,324,505 
I4,370,992 
11,089,603 

7,370,599 
6,856,077 
7,267,129 
9,242,188 
10,886,288 
12,666,108 

518.501,806 

5  1,973,161 
2,158,077 
2,216,628 
1,614,689 
970,185 
881,546 
692,428 
655,584 
600,608 
619,179 

$  65,278,231 

$  11,171,238 
15,482,582 
16,587,620 
12,704,292 
8,340,784 
7,737,623 
7,959,557 
9,897,772 
11,486,896 
13,285,287 

$  32,321,643 

$     5,643,!  76 
5,310,796 
4,211,328 
5,334,689 
5,i73,44i 
6,808,757 
9,928,122 
11,042,772 
13,825,242 
15,536,100 

$    16,997,240 

$      2,674,626 
3,151,103 
3,965,795 
3,681,797 
4,093,580 
3,879,215 
4,791,718 
6,287,117 
7,428,359 
7,154,815 

$  49,318,883 

$     8,317,802 
8,461,899 
8,177,123 
9,016,486 
9,267,021 
10,687,972 
14,719,840 
17,329,889 
21,253,601 
22,600,915 

$-15,959,348 

$   -2,853,436 
-7,020,683 
-  8,410,497 
-3,687,806 
+926,237 
+2,950,349 
+6,760,283 
+7,432,117 
+9,766,705 
+9,405,628 

x882    

1883  

!884     

1885   .... 

1886   

j887    

1888  
1880   .  . 

1890  
Total 
10  years  .  . 

1801    .. 

$102,271,566 

$  14,199,080 
13,696,531 
18,891,714 
12,441,805 
14,582,484 
18,686,797 
22,726,596 

512,382.085 

5    770,540 
597,468 
676,920 
400,344 
423,422 
763,459 
694,468 

$114,653,651 

$  14,969,620 
14,293,999 
19,568,634 
12,842,149 
15,005,906 
19,450,256 
23,421,064 

$  82,814,423 

$  23,364,519 
23,702,496 
27,145,469 
21,560,011 
12,903,789 
13,819,698 
13,990,017 

$   47,108,125 

$      3,931,473 
4,405,029 
6,409,630 
7,166,995 
2,731,999 
3,636,479 
4,521,555 

$129,922,548 

$  27,295,992 
28,107,525 
33,555,099 
28,727,006 
15,635,788 
17,456,177 
18,511,572 

$+15,268,897 

$+12,326,372 
+13,813,526 
+13,986,465 
+15,884,857 
+629,882 
-  1,994,079 
-4,909,492 

1892 

1893,  

iSoc    .  , 

1806 

1897  

TWi1 

7  years.. 

$115,225,007 

5  4,326,621 

$119,551,628 

$136,485,999 

$   32,803,160 

$169,289,159 

$+49,737,531 

Treasury  Department,  Bureau  of  Statistics, 
September  4,  1897* 


WORTHINGTON  C.  FORD, 

Chief  of  Bureau. 


ZTrafce  witb  tbe  Iftnitefc  States. 


175 


STATEMENT  SHOWING  THE  TOTAL  COMMERCE  BETWEEN  THE  UNITED 
STATES  AND  MEXICO,  BY  YEARS  AND  DECADES  FROM  1851  TO 
1897. 


YEAR 
ENDING 
JUNE  30. 

EXPORTS    FROM  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

IMPORTS   INTO   THE   UNITED   STATES. 

EXCESS  OF 
EXPORTS  (-) 
OR 
IMPORTS  (-f). 

Mer- 
chandise. 

Gold  and 
Silver. 

Total. 

Mer- 
chandise. 

Gold  and 
Silver. 

Total. 

I85I  
1852  

$  1,581,783 
2,284,929 
3,558,824 
3,135,486 
2,921,604 
3,701,789 
3,615,206 
3,312,825 
2,919,742 
5,  324,  71  3 

$    2,652 
3,255 
i,734 
528 

1,200 
450 

$  1,584,435 
2,288,184 
3,560,558 
3,136,014 
2,922,804 
3,702,239 
3,615,206 
3,315,825 
2,992,546 
5,354,073 

$     720,786 
555,264 
756,100 
937,856 
904,75° 
853,758 
1,026,873 
1,108,501 
1,244,084 
1,903,431 

$  1,083,993 
1,093,942 
1,411,885 
2,525,334 
1,978,080 
2,7I4,923 
4,958,984 
4,368,964 
4,095,890 
5,032,441 

$  1,804,779 
1,649,206 
2,167,985 
3,463,190 
2,882,830 
3,568,68i 
5,985,857 
5,477,465 
5,339,974 
6,935,872 

$ 

+220,344 
-638,978 
-1,392,573 
+327,176 
-39,974 

jgeo 

i8<u 

8c6 

I8e7 

»JOOO« 

+2,370,651 

-+-2,161,640 
+2,347,428 
4-1,581,709 

j858    

3,000 

72,804 
29,360 

1860' 

Total 
10  years  .  . 

!86i    

$32,356,901 

$  2,210,426 
2,181,174 
9,020,624 
9,270,597 
16,350,839 
4,573,2i8 
5,395,796 
6,441,339 
4,883,107 
5,859,700 

$114,983 

$    5,464 

$32,471,884 

$  2,215,890 
2,181,174 
9,072,212 
12,681,554 
17,015,080 
4,588,218 
5,452,248 
6,454,263 
4,885,107 
5,875,396 

$10,011,403 

$     886,112 
730,988 
3,040,882 
6,128,445 
6,220,874 
,726,092 
,071,936 
,590,667 
,336,164 
,715,665 

$29,264,436 

$  2,803,101 
1,953,864 
1,485,702 
1,755,946 
1,133,299 
2,429,511 
2,849,038 
4,525,255 
4,895,842 
10,383,366 

$39,275,839 

$  3,689,213 
2,684,852 
4,526,584 
7,884,391 
7,354,173 
4,155,603 
3,920,974 
6,115,922 
7,232,006 
13,099,031 

$+6,803,955 

$+1,473,323 
+503,678 
-4,545,628 
-4,797,163 
-9,660,907 
-432,615 
-1,531,274 
-338,341 
+2,346,899 
+7,223,635 

!862    

T86-3 

51,588 

3,410,957 
664,241 
15,000 
56,452 
12,924 

2,000 

15,696 

!864    

1865          .    . 

1866 

1867  
1868 

1869 

1870      

Total 
10  years.  . 

$66,186,820 

$  7,612,113 
5,543,589 
6,264,901 
5,946,839 
5,737,282 
6,200,572 
5,893,494 
7,460,704 
6,752,244 
7,866,493 

$4,234,322 
$  38,500 

35,000 
165,262 
57,53i 
33,5oi 
7,600 
5,239 
32,180 
9,040 
3,371 

$70,421,142 

$  7,650,613 
5,578,589 
6,430,163 
6,004,370 

5,770,783 
6,208,172 

5,898,733 
7,492,884 
6,761,284 
7,869,864 

$26,447,825 

$  3,209,688 
4,002,920 
4,276,165 
4,346,364 
5,174,594 
5,150,572 
5,204,264 
5,251,502 
5,493,221 
7,209,593 

$34,214,924 

$14,301,475 
4,504,204 
12,154,060 
8,893,541 
6,460,389 
7,355,i8i 
10,240,319 
8,394,146 
8,554,598 
9,115,824 

$60,662,749 

$  17,511,163 
8,507,124 
16,430,225 
13,239,905 
11,634,983 
12,505,753 
15,444,583 
13,645,648 
14,047,819 
16,325,417 

$ 
$- 
-f 

-9,758,393 

f9,  860,  550 
f2,928,535 
-10,000,062 
-7,235,535 
-5,864,200 
-6,297,581 
-9,545,850 
-6,152,764 
-7,286,535 
f  8,455,  553 

1872    

1873    .  , 

1874 

1875  

1876  

!878    

1870 

mo 

Total 
10  years.  . 

$65,278,231 

$387,224 

$      1,500 

18,446 

96,964 
335,635 
79,406 
"0,035 
279,812 
319,408 

176,616 

240,912 

$65,665,455 

$  11,172,738 
15,501,028 
16,684,584 
13,039,927 
8,420,190 
7,847,658 
8,239,369 
10,217,180 
11,663,512 
13,526,199 

$49,318,883 

$    8,317,802 
8,461,899 
8,i77,I23 
9,016,486 
9,267,021 
10,687,972 
14,719,840 
17,329,889 
21,253,601 
22,690,915 

$89,973,737 

$    9,136,324 
6,631,938 
9,782,986 
13,015,901 
14,919,611 
16,935,396 
14,855,765 
14,032,637 
17,557,248 
18,155,809 

$139,292,620 

$  17,454,126 

15,093,837 
17,960,109 
22,032,387 
24,186,632 
27,623,368 
29,575,605 
31,362,526 
38,810,849 
40,846,724 

$4 

$  - 

•73,627,165 

f6,  281,  388 
-407,191 
hi,275,525 
1-8,992,460 
15,766,442 
I9,775,7Io 
21,336,236 
21,145,346 
27,147,337 
27,320,525 

1882         .   . 

15,482,582 
16,587,620 
12,704,292 
8,340,784 
7,737,623 
7,959,557 
9,897,772 
11,486,896 
13,285,287 

1883 

!884  

1885 

1886  

1887  
1888 

1889  
1890         .   . 

Total 
10  years.  . 

$114,653,651 

$  14,969,620 
14,293,999 
19,568,634 
12,842,149 
15,005,906 
19,450,256 
23,421,064 

$1,658,734 
$  227,734 

168,584 

473,942 
708,932 

551,064 

926,560 
114,149 

$116,312,385 

$  I5,I97,354 
14,462,583 
20,042,576 
iSiSS^oSi 
15,556,970 
20,376,816 
23,535,213 

$129,922,548 

$  27,295,992 
28,107,525 
33,555,099 
28,727,006 
15,635,788 
17,456,177 
18,511,572 

$135,023,615 

$  14,297,431 
19,174,034 
22,951,604 
12,790,199 
9,644,160 
29,166,241 
12,202,794 

$264,946,163 

$  4^593,423 
47,28r,559 
56,506,703 
41,517,205 
25,279,948 
46,622,418 
30,714,366 

$+148,633,778 

$  +26,396,069 

+32,818,976 
+36,464,127 
+27,966,124 
+9,722,978 
+26,245,602 
+7,179,153 

1892  

l8oq 

1804 

1895  

1896  
1897  
Total 
7  years  .  . 

$119,551,628 

$3,*  7°,  965 

$122,722,593 

$169,289,159 

$120,226,463 

$289,515,622 

$+166,793,029 

176 


Statistical  IRotes  on  flDejico. 


h 


S     6 


il| 

«1.1 


s^  .  § 
"38S 
•8°S§ 


—  o£ 
omawa  HVHA 


flm^ 


co  m  co  >n  O  •* 


o  co  S  S.  0  co  O  o  SvS 

o*2  Jo-vF  cVS  of  S  3  £?  ££0?  £  £?«  8 

M  M  w  -*vo  vo  »i.  mvo  vo  mvo  oo  o  covo.  o_  t> 


foo>«  rovo  o  oo  • 

-  COOO  VO    M    O    O    W 

cooo  oo  m  S>  m  m 
" 


mvo  oo  co  t-^vo  co  co  m 
x  •*•  i>.vo  ooo  m  covo 
M  oo  cj^  M_  M.  q.  M.  cj^  q 

f^  <£  o"  ^  t*>  o  m 


tx  •  w 

O     -m 
M.« 


M  o  ^-oo  ooo  ^-  m  o  oo  O  co  m  •«$•  o  in  o  t**  ^ 
OOMoo^om  ovo  M  oo  ovo  cocom  -<a-oo 
o  o  «  v£  vp_  in  q.  t>.  o_  t^vo_  M.OO  co  •+  o_  0.00.  'j 


co^foroinw   CDM  ^••'t'ln 
co  covo  NCOMMM        ^-wv 


I         '.    '.  M"        I    I    I    I  o"  "fob"  covo"  •£  oT  m  o  co  o"  rx  rCvo"  in  M" 

COOO^OO^MCO^-^-MOMO^ 


M  in  •*•  •*  m  o 

M"      d"oTM~      erM"coo"o"cT  ^-vo"  m  moo 


m^ot^O^^MOm 
ooo  COM  M  ?.vo  O  M  oo 

t>.  (S    CO  tx  <M    0,  S.CO    0> 


o  t^  M  ^  m  o  oo  ovo  txmo  cooo  t^ovo  tsovo  «>-oo  o  t»  m 
(NOOoocor^oooMOm  -*oo  oo  oo  co  mvo  o  •*  t~  M  m  o  •* 
<>  o^  m  m  o  m  o  M^  M^OO^  <o  m  t^  •*  o_  cooo_  M^  m  tv  m  »>.  o  tx  M^VO^ 
vo"  tC  in  tC  M"  co  co  tC  moo"  M*mco^o"coM'tCorommM'»4'  inoo" 
O  in  covo  t^OO  vo  -^"Ovo  M  -^-COMOO  OVO  t^M  ovo  I^IOM  NVO 
•*--<«-m«  M  commcoco^-  txoo  t^  co  o  m  o^oo  m  mvo^  o  M  m  m 


)   M     M       •     CO   O     O     O 
I  M     ^«-     •  00  VO     M     tx 


-MMO     txVO     0 


M"  M"  I  o"  o  tx  o"  ooo"  -^oo"  covo"  co  o"oo"  tC  o  •*?  ovo"  cooo"  o 

.MM        •«•  co  covo  o  moo  vo  t^  m  ^-  M  6  m  3  vo  o  M 


CO^.M  mM*M  ^oo  ^^*"  ^vo  m  o  o  ^  ovo  vo  vo  co  m  co  co  • 
o  co  m  "i-vo  m  co  mvo  m  «n^  co  •*  t^  covo  M  ro  o  ooo  -*  t<  M  . 
t^  -«s-vo  vo_mM  **;o;fOM.M  ooo^  t«.»>.o  omt>.rxM  -*co  ooo  • 
M"  -^  o  M*  O  »H"  co  cTvo"  o"^^o"tx<^mM><^oo"co  o"oo"  o"  m  * 
co  ^  •«-  o  ^  o  o  co  o  co  ^-  •?  o  M  o  mvo  in  co  m  «  vo  vo  o  . 


•     .  .  •  »OOVOOMO  tsvo   O   ts  M  OO   ^*OO   M   O   covo   COVO   O   O   -^ 

wj.  .  .  .inoMvooocoooMvoooMmom-^-o  ^vo  o 

Q    .  .  .  .  o  txoo_  «^«.^:1Q^M,*5'<*:^  O_vp^  q_txin-^o  t^mM 

§    I  I  .  .MOOOM^-oomovo 


mcoMQovooo  f~vo  mvo  o  mo  -*MOO  rot^t^t-sm  cooo  m 
O   OVO   *OVO   OM   -*T»-M   O   O   •*•  O   covo   -»fOO   O  O   OVO  OO   m  tx 

covo"  •£  o  M"  o"  o"      -*oo"  o"  o"  co  ooo"  •«J:-«?mcomfrM"coo"tCo 

vom       o  ooMMOMm^MOooMvooot^ocoMO 

M  MO  rovo  •*•  tN  o  o  comtxoooo 


t>.oo  invo  m  ^*vo  mr^mMOO  c^mM  0  moococoo  ino  ow. 

•  00    M  VO    M    t>.  O  CO  Ot^QOTCOOO    ^00  00    O    OVO    ^  O    M  VO    CO 

<"vo  mo  ^M  mt^mt^O  movo  •*comoeo  ovo  o  O  m  ovo  in 
roo"  o"  co  o'vo'oo"  in  o"  M"  w*  o  rC  tCoo"  M"  o'oo" 

COOO    O    M    O    ^  CO  CO  O  ^-00    CO  O    M    M    O    C-- 

30^  o^  ovo^  o  t^  co  >-ooo^  o  q_  m 
M"  eT  o"  o"  covo" vb" 06"  cf  co  rCoo" 


Sm-4-      o 


. 

^mmoovo-movo"  j  m  o  rooo  «  coo'  «C  M  o  o  4vom  co  M  o 


•<f  moo"  ol    '.    I    I    to-^M'o'f^coM'commo'com  tCoo"  oT 
co  -4-0  M    I    :    .    .    .       co  t>  «N  o  t>.  mvo  co  •«•  o  M  covo  oo  m  o 


1  1 


I  i 

I  t- 

«2  x| 

I  si 

o  S'~ 

3  "5  a 


4)  O 

T3  „>. 

a        g"5 
P.       "o  c 

i  II 

C++ 


I  11 

tf  s"g 

I  fl 

f.  6  v 

„-  8-3 


II 


I  11 

•a  *1 

i  p 

1  :ss 

"C  -a  u 


^ 


•c      ^2 
o,      «ru 

I,  If 

"s*    -3  i 

ss  .y-c 


6*8    fe^ 
•Sg  -S-f 

O  g       O  3 

•eA  a     <dCT 
B          o 

*ri 


wttb  tbe  Tftmtefc  States* 


177 


1 


•JJ      X 

iw 
18 
s 
o 

s  £ 
I  3 

tn 

<S       § 

ll 

I       S 
§ 

I 
g 


ffl 


RCH 
ISE. 


WOOD, 
UNMANU- 
FACTURED 


WOOL,  RAW 
AND  FLEECE. 


AND 
SES 
LL 
S. 


UGA 
MOL 
OF 
KI 


SPICES  OP 
ALL  KINDS 


PRECI 
STON 


NIMAL 
LIVING. 


z  a 


VO   t«. 
"*-M 


"^  O1  C4    W    lO^N    W  OO    M    CO  *OOO    •«*•  O    ^  O    CO  CO  0    CO  tf>  ^t"  *O\O    CO 
ts,  ^  O*  M    M    M    ^t"NO    C4    t^-  **•  O    C*    d    IOCJ    W    fO&lOW    WiOs  tXiOO 

o  o^rorx^-o  SOO>C>ON  moo  r^  o  m  ir>  ooo  v5  co  o*  t^  <N  ^  o 


t0.. 


^  oT lo"  oTvcT  tC\o" 
>oo  O  tx  w  O   t^ 


li 

z  m 


s 

w  -> 


_          ^ 
\  in  M" 


<-OOt>>  tv\O  OO  O>  r>  v.  mv 
O  O**O  t^OO  CO  W  0  t^»  tx 
to  -*vO  o  roooo  5  ro  - 


.  M.  0.00    *00  00 


O  co  o<  rovo  "O  o^vo  •«*•  co  to  rx  co  r^  t^oo  P»  t^t».coO  N  »oto-* 

VO    t^  O    COQO    t^M    M  O    O^  CO  O»  «    t^Q    MOO    -*VO    •*  O    O^  to  CO  tx 

to  o  co  cooo  10  O  oo  o^vo  t^H  HOO  ooovo  ioiototx  o^vo  to  co  t 

cf  oo~  iocoo"iocT  cyM~c?  toob"  c?  ef  nT  tC  •«?  -^  tC  invo"  (T  •»?  •*?  • 

lOWM-^-l-l  tN         «VO«COlOMMOVO«tOtxCO<NOV 


O»  covo  O  M  •**•  M  vo  COVO  COONOMOOOO-OOto 
itotxcool  -*-oT-^-t^o  O>M  5oo  NOO  too  *  M  oj  r«. 
I  O;oo_oo  <>  O.  cooo^  •<*•  •<*•  covo_  M^OO^  to  -^vo  t^  o  01  •«- 1~» 


vo"  M"  oT  oTvo"  Q'VO'VO'  oT  co  M"  co  O*  O\  O^vo"  &CO^O   tCvo"vo"oo* 


°°       °  «    °    *0  «  M 


ooN 


M  o  coiob>t-.t>:oS.M*^ 

10  t-»  -^-  O_OO_  O^OO    CO  O)    O>  0) 
"t^^lOM" 


10  O  CO  O 

00  °°,  'J.  "„ 


t»  O  H  01 
•  M  -^  ^CO 
Q  *Q  "*"  H,  t 

,vo"M'o"t> 


OOtxOQA    •O»Mt*sMCO  ^*"OO    O^  COOO    to  O>  •    M    IO  O* 

00    O>vS    O      •    ON  M    O  VO    tO  O    f^Op    10  M    •*  CO  •  VO  VO    M 

O>W          lO-txOlvOMVOCO  O>vO    01    Ot    01  00  •  VO    CO  O> 

co          M-  :  of  «  jf  co  £  o>  M  vo  ««»  o  :  ^  ^vo' 


VQ  O*00  «  •  •*  COVO  M  •«•  O  O>00  00  M  COVO  .  tx  •*  IO 

COO»^*IO  •  O  "*t-M  M  fN^*-t^^-Q>^tOr^  *  -^-VD  0* 

",^^0  M^  .  10  0.  to  01^  <N^  •*  tOVO^VO^VO^  ^  N  •  O«  0  01 

•                                  "  "  " 


,  ^  .  ^     ^  ^^ 

10  •*  tol<>  covcT  to  M"  oT  tC  10  iCvcrvcT  tC  I  d"  cf  M" 

O  W      .*NO1IOO|VOO^M01COCOCOO  .COCOO* 

«  10  •<»•  tx  -*•  COOO    COOO    CO  M_  4  .  VO    H    M_ 


Ov  O    M    01    CO  Tf  tOVO    t^CXJ    Q>  O    M    01    CO  •*  tOVO    txOO    O»  O    M    OJ    CO 
lOVO  VOVOVOVOVOOVOVOVO    t>.t«.t^»xtxtxtxt-xt>  tvoO  OO  OO  OO 

ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo 


ctured  cotton. 
ured  cotton. 


value  of  unm 
alue  of  unma 


128,875  was  t 
7,197  was  th 


Of  this  amount 
Of  this  amount 


1 1 

11 

II 

II 

•8  t 

V       V 

II 

I  I 

3    S 
>    * 

IO      to 

vo       S. 

o"    r> 
R  ^ 

^  ^ 


Of  this  a 
Of  this  a 


Statistical  IRotes  on  /»ejico. 


1 


8    § 

v!       Q 


RAW  OR  UNMA 
ACTURED. 


heat 
eat- 


oo   r-.  O 
H  m  >o 


o    .   M 
C*  •  M 


i^  i  d"  o'«r 

M    IU>HN- 
"*  m« 

rood" 


infTo>  too"  M">O"  t  tc 

O   t^vo  N  ooo  oo   ro  tx 
COOO  ^-OO  OO   m  \rt  1O 

ef  M''©'  ro  ro  cS  cS  fn  «f  6" 


'O'M' 


Ooo  M^ 


)MMCoo  to«O  to  «  r*»  O  M   M 
M    txM    ts.M\O    t^  IO  M    0) 

M^fotNN  iovo^  "^.ojo^ 
«f  c?  >noo"  o'^  doooo  «-" 


rowtxChiJ-^rO^-M   ON   O  fO^  O>  N  «OOO  <»)  N  ro  N  «  M 

vo  o  M  ^NVO  uit^mmCTim  ro\O  •*  c?v  •<«•  »o  «  O  -*oo  ^-  «o 

O  c;  0.00  o;  •*  1000^  o  ••;•,«•_  M  O  O  cvo^vo^oo  «N.  M  \o  t 

"  "  "  "  "  " 


>  •    mvo  t    i-vo 


I 

'i  <£ 

S  i 

3    2 

!  1" 

1  I, 

g  £      ;| 

£3?^  ool^£$K?$#o?vS';S'$><£        -^  | 

«          >OI1/^v'«'rON«-»«-10N>r)O\OCIOOfO«0  4)          g 

o  :::::::  ft*?  fr*fc>!*g  5  £g  g£$g£g          -g    'S 

b 
4»1 

=:n 

k  ::::::::::::::::::::::::::         » -  & 

«  m-  u  P 

S  1,  :::::.::::::::::::::,:::          ,«. 

rt  ^TJ 

^3   «H  5 

K  ;.;;;;;;;;;;;;............  8     r 

StTJ 

»•« 

•;t    In"1 

O    H    N    CO  •*•  10\O    t>CO    ON  O    M    M    CO 

oo  oo  do  oododooodbdbooopop  op'op'co'op'op'op'op'op'op'op'oo  oo  oo  oo 


witb  tbe  TUniteJt  States. 


179 


1 


fffft 

«a  5  <  Q 

a      u 


H  roo  H  vc  oo 


tvOvroroO   O  vO   «-•  f»OO 


«O  O>  M  vo   rovo  03   M   CO  f>  O   M   OiOtxtvOvroro 
••*•  N  VO    Ix  ^  -^  ^  ro  rO  N    O*VO    txVO    tx  M    N    1OOO    1 

ro  o>  »ovo_  10  i-^oo_  |^.lQfi.u2fiO.l9r2'*;H,w,  f2 
*  ^oo"  *£o^c^ro^erM"i-r  iovcT  M'OO'  ^  o"  •*£  o*  co  cToo*  rooo"  lov 

00    tx  M    ro  N  vo    OM    0,0>0    txOO    tx  »O>6    1C  in  TOO  0 


c^^roroc^ojioioq.  H_OO_  ro  <N^  cj_vo_  q_  >o  c^o^  ro  10  q^  tx  m  tx  N_ 
CO  ^O^iOiO^fiorod'd'  ^M"  T?  06^  ro  (O  fO  T  oTvo"  H^VO"  Ix  cT  O^  oT 
00  O>  M  >OVO  O  VO  «  «  txOO  w  »0  O>  O  ^  lx  IOVO  OO  O  O'  1OOO  fO  tx 

H    fOMNtxM^-^tx  txoO  VO  vS  00  0.0^  0>  q.  tx  S^  0<  N_To  «  tx 


s  1-  s 


Rf  18 1|  of  8  £  R 


M  cT  M  ci"  tx  -^  tx  eToo'vo'  tx  M"VO"  ^oo"  fo  o*  ^  o"  ^  tx  ^vo"  rovo"  10 

00    l-l    •*  H    1000    w    M    10  IOOO    *  O    O>  CO  tx  IOVO  VO  VO  OO  VO    O    O>  O>OO 
N    COVO    COMtxtxN          COfOrOM  w    M    C1    M 


d          rO«oO 

C       o      oo 

^ 


lO  fvVO  CO  OO    H 
ts»Mio-^-Nw\ 


M  OO     M  VO     N    IOVO     O>OO     H     O     N     tx  M 
N    CO  M    10  <T>  -r,OQ  00    •*  O    tx  tx  M    •^> 

o  ro  •<•  M^  qoo^  R^ O  O  H  rooo  10 

'    "°  M-VO1  g'^V 


OO    CT*  O    w    0*    fO  -4"  IOVO    txOO    O>  O    w    N    fO  •*}•  IOVO    txOO    O^  O    M    Cl    m 
10  iov£  \ovovovovovovovovo    txrvt^txt^txfxtxtx  txoO  00  00  00 

oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo 


bar. 

I! 


i8o 


Statistical  Iftotes  on 


•HSidNVHDHaiv 
jo    sxaoaxa    ivxox 


•asia 

-NVH3HH  W  NOIHXOJ 

jo    sxaodxa   ivxoi 


•HSIC1NVH3 

-a  aw      Dixsawoa 

JO      SXHOJXH      IVXOX 


•jo  snaax 
OVJONVW  ONV  aooM. 


•JO  SBHHXDVJ 
-OMVW  aNV  OD3VHOX 


•sassviow  CINV  Hvons 


uapModung 


"iio  ivaaNiw  ONI 
-iVNiwrmi 


«0  P»  COVO  •*  •*  IX  ON.CO  VO  ON  tx  O  CO  ON  H  ON  01  N  ••*•«*•  _5  COCO  01  O 
«  "*•  net  tx,  01  ON  ro  w  ONCOO  O  woo  O  cooo  tx  O-  O  Th  ON  coco  « 
CO  ix  IX  -3-  M  VO  1000  01  ix  CO  M  f-.  M  10  ONCO  01  10  •*•  tx  01  •*  CN  IOVO 

eToN-'t-o'w'o'o'o'co'ioii'co'oNpFco  -£vo'  £.  o  mo  oTvo"  w"  oT  tC 
HwoiwoooitxiotxON  ^-oo  10  11  -*vo  •*  co  o  O-vS  iovo  txoo  oo 

CO  ON  CO  01    M    O    vN    CO  10  CO  3-00  00  VO    IO01    O-  tx  01  CO    •*•  txOO    w    -<»•  IO 


cf  10  w"  «"  <>  dlvo" 


^^^         ^  ^^  ^    ^ 

•*  10  tC  «ovo"  »o  vivo  in  t>.vo  tC  M" 


mo  w  «  H 


txCO  COVO  IO  M-VO  VO  H  CO  w  "c5  1OOO  COCO  ON  r^-  ON  ON  txvo  M  VO  Cx 
ON  >0  CO  CO  •*  O  ^J-CO  VO  M  ON  ^-  ON  O  ONCO  v25  01  ".VO  Cl  CO^  IO  w_  O^Vj  ^ 
ONtCiOii"o'o>ioo"'>i'orortx  T?  co'  oTrocftOONO-ONi-rQ'  coco  vo" 
«VO  M  10^-txO  COtxtxON-VwVO  <N  CH  COVO  ONCO  •*•  IO  0  Cx  IO  w 

iovo  O  vo  co  10  10  inco  to  co  O  co  10  w  co  ONCO  "^  covo  coco  o^  w  01 


«<S 

iovo 


COOO    OOO    -«-00    <N    O  O    •*•  t»  >0  « 

•  m  10  M  ^-o  t^o  NOO  f^f^o  c> 

O  VO   O   H   O   O^OO   •*  CO  O^  O   to  O* 


- 

-«;  t>.00^  t.00 


eT 


•^  CO  fOVO  OO^t'O>NOOOwO1»HCl    lO^O  OO    CON    -4-M    lO-^^O*    Q 

co  M  •«•  o>n  m  ti.\o  oo  ro  t~.  co  -*  rn  o!^-  ro  M  co  t--vo  cooo  co  O  vo 
o_  i^^oo^  fj^vo^  o-  o>  o  H  loooo  ioo>ooo  •*'(r>xQtr>u2'-^'^:rJt^ 
"  10  cT  10  iovo"  CTco^cT^roo"'ii'o>coM'  i^vo"  ^i" 

H    -*•  ^.^0    P)loS>Ot^MON 

.  t>.oo  vo  t^\o  10  r>.  txoo  co  1000 
M"  «"  eT 


VO     ON  txVO     O     WOO     H     txM     COtxMOl     COlOlO-^-W     W     1OOO     CO  O     H     01          ! 
ts.  -*•  CO  -£  O  O.OC;  COO?  CO  «    V  «_  S  V0_  q;  ON  oloo.  O^  ^»   IO  C±  •*  •*; 


8  ct 


Vk  O^  M    W 

^ 


COOO    N 
H    C(    ^ 


.  ..  ^  . 

co  t^  M"  w"  iri  co  co*o"  ^  co  cT  ^vo^  co  cooo"*  t^  c^co^oo*"  xootT  M*  co  w*  co 
^       CNH        MinroroincoTrc<Mcorocjiocointxro  -^\o  tx  tv 


01  ONIO«  COCXOIVO  WVQ  OVO  CO  OX00  ONQOVO  CO  01  CO  O  0)  -*CO  CO 
3O  w  O  H  QNOI  ^*O  01  txfocooi  •<$-'<i-^i-w  mvo  tx  -rt-  01  w  co  ON  M 
co  co  co  tx  o^vo^  •*  q_  w_  ••»•  tx  w_  q_  w^co^  tx  H^  •»*;•*  c>  loco^  10  to  M^  «_ 


^^m^KSc^cofofSS 

M  HCO^dHHHH  H 


_J    COVO    IN,  H    M    W    COCO    '••t'CO    M    CO  •*^-  '^  1OVO    O    C<  OO    CO  04    lO^O    t*--.  -^ 
.~    O    roooo   u">M   M    OO   O*t-*--  ••^•oo   O   u^'^'-^-OJVO    HVO   «   WOO   •<*•  ro 

8  *  i5  t°i  *9  't^  T  ^  H^  ^^  *S  ^  t^  t00^  ^  °^  t  *0  ^^  1 

•r  \O*  0^*0"  t-svo"  iC»^'*»?^cOM*cr'*«?''*^  &c&  ^oo"  »H*  o"  *-o  "-"foo^  co  co  of 

C    C-lt*-*0    MIOITJOI    COOO    ONCO    CO  CO^O    t>- O  VOOO    M    lO^OOO    HOC    O* 

D  iovO  O  M  \o  rooo  roco  oo  O^O   txtxQoo  rocoroiow  w  IOCOM  co 


O    0»    C>»OCOO    H    O    ^04    OOOlOO^OOO    W    ONOO    H    IOOO    C*    »O  CO  IO 

<%  s  Sa?Hs^  i-^^Kss  ^ISll'Sfeftf  a  o] 

^  ^  ^  ^"  ?  $  S'S-s^"  s  £  £  A  s-s  y  £  ^  « a  ?  £  £ 


rxcn-COCOHO-4-NVON     -wvo     .     .     . 

10H       .«>COt-xCOWM-«*-0       -^-10.       •       • 

.........    Tt-  (N      •    ONOO    01HCO01t>>CO*w01      •      •      • 


IO  O>  CO  IOVO  10  •»»•  .  O  tx  COOO  O  •*•  O  ^t-CO  rxOMtxfltxtxIOCO 
woNlxOw^-lOlO  IxvO  W  tx  O  COOO  O  w  txVO  ^-  W  ON  N  CO 
O*lOfxONwW  .txON10ONW(NOOCO  txco  (M  VO  00  txVO  CO  w  tx 

r^  4vo"  to  4vo'vo~  I  w'vo'vo"  o'vo'  ^  o'vo"  cooo'  iovo"  M1  co  c?  iovo"  co 
^  w  v5  01  .  Moi«N«-<r-<j-oioioio<co^-'*-'oio 


cogV^Sw'E'&S'oN. 
Tt-coin  txo-w  N  co? 


CO    0    10  CO 
CO   ONVO   O.  O   01 
°*"" 


. 
iovo'  tx6~o5°^C*-o""cT 

w  N  B*  ONVO  10  o>  t>. 


<j-ONCOrOO)10MO 
ooo^  •*  •*;  CO  w  w  -rf- 
w"  i-T  CO  oT  IO  COVO*"  ON 

tx    t».  o  10  «•..  «  * 


co'  ON  0   M   c"  co  •*•  iovo"  »*.oo"  ON  o'  M   0)   co  •*•  iovo"   t^oo"   ON  O   w  oi   co 
IO  IOVO  vovovovovovovovovo    txtxtxtxtxtxtxtxtx  txco  OO  OO  CO 

cococooocooococooocococooocooococooooooocococooooooo 


** 

•£  ° 

!-l 

»l 

ll 


II 

0.0 


a 

Ho 


If 

ll 


"Sg 

il 


&•*• 

s  •- 


11 

li 


I! 


ZTrafce  witb  tbe  TOnfted  States* 


181 


E 
I- 


te and  other 
sses  unmanu- 
factured. 


HOPOVOM 

S  S  RR  * 


' 


g'o 

•S'-S 
- 


0-3  -3 
o  ».2 


Co:  Pigs, 
ars,  ingots,  old 
and  other  un- 
manufactured. 


pper 


co 


H     ^rococo 
vO     K   *   V  « 


>«-O    rot^oo  tomiOM 

M    vo    M   vo    oo  N    oo     H     r^ 

M       <T>OO"OO  »OM       t^fO 

"" 


>OO"O 

"" 


R  5  ^  5. 


VT1      IT)      M        M        tO    OO 
H       •*      M     00       5?     B 

o*  tv  •*•  \o    co  to 


^ 

OO 


cc-vv 

Q-*vfi       txM       t^MH       ^-m 

Z  H    o>fnvo     H     M     rOTN 

§°°  w<s  2  a  4  a  s  S; 

"        "        "        " 


•o 


—  o£  awnf 

ONKINB  HVHA 


in  •*  •*•  vb"  >n  •<*••«*• 


txUINONMOtx 

M     r^    ro   ^-   m   M-    M    t> 


fe  J?^-^  S'S  o?  S  8 

~,  o,  o,  M.  «  «    «    «    en 
^^groc^MOcjO 


182 


Statistical  fRotes  on 


1 1 

cfl   It 

rJ      ^ 

H  ^J 
[Q    v$ 

a! 
gf 


Total 
imports  of 
merchandise. 


Other 
merchandise. 


Wood,  un- 
manu- 
factured. 


We 
nul 


and 
ses. 


"S-S 

P 

In 


M     ID  t^VO    >*•  10 


rC  cJ  ^?  M"  ro  M"  cooo"  cf 


NO*  fOOO    Q 
^•OVO    COCOOv 


co  •*  TI-VO  vo 


>- 
txvo   M         txv 

" 


vSSf 
l>  fO 


oo  co 
rx  M 


< 


f  CO  >*•  «"  H 


OVO  0  OMVO   M 


f«U 

"g  ™  «r.a 


3  5%  f^^^^S  S 

B>       «•»  «  H  invo 


rovo   M   iov5 
•»  Ova   tx  <y  •<*-  M  vo 
<O  H' 


«  txvo 


v>  cT  M"  in      cf  •* 


witb  tbe  THnite&  States* 


183 


af 

H     « 


ii 

-  D 
£   H 

*< 


Boo 
S 


HJN 

2-sf  3  2 
,8833 


GU 
OTH 


si 

1! 


n 


Jo 

OTJ 


M     <J\\O    •«•  M     CO  «    10  O- 

oo  mvo  oo  or*  m  M   ro 
0,     ;  co  o>  too^  10  no 


>  tx  rovo  txvo  tx  10 

O>  •*•  t»-  C^VO  O  •*• 

»  ro  cooo  »o  10  covo 

?  £  s  ^  s5  a  s5 

t0?^.0^  *1  ^  °1  "t! 
c^  co  ro  co  ro  10^0* 


•*noo  mfoiOM\ovo 

ts.00     CO  NO    1O  tx  O    Is*  O 

*  * 


cooo*  »o 


CO  O    O  t-»  100O    10 


.    ... 
"  ro  •*  10 

^  Cx  *X 


.  o> 

U-    »OCO(MOO 

vo  M  ro  •* 
'' 


•* 
oo 


^  _    _ 

tnoo'vo'  tC  cToo"  ^  o"vo" 

•*  •*  O   fOQvO   10  ^  O 
o  0  t>-o>OrOH  lot-. 


>o«\o  ^sO  lOTt-w  tx 

VO  OO    t^OO    1O  1O  M    CO  W 
t^OO    IOVO    04  OO    H    IO  1O 


.    O    0    10  <N    O    «OOO    N    Q 

f  888.18811. 8 


i  10  >OVO"  CO  CO  •<?  1 


oooo 


J 


ther  mer- 
chandise. 


Wood,  and 
manufac- 
tures of. 


H     13 


I 


ITS  8 


:>o>o 


«»H-M-N-H-  HMCT 


ro  «C  tCo 


^•n 

•    ro  10 


j    j  °°°o  fn  ^  cooo"oo" 


i.84  Statistical  IRotes  on 

Increase  of  trade  during  the  year  1896-97. — The  data  given  in  the 
chapter  on  Foreign  Trade  contain  detailed  statements  of  the  amount 
of  commodities  and  precious  metals  exported  from  Mexico  into  the 
United  States  during  the  last  ten  years,  and  I  refer,  therefore,  to  the 
same,  those  desiring  more  detailed  information  on  that  subject. 

I  give,  however,  a  statement  of  the  leading  merchandise  imported 
from  Mexico  into  the  United  States,  during  the  last  fiscal  year,  com- 
pared with  the  fiscal  year  ended  June  30,  1896,  embracing  only  such 
imports  as  are  not  specifically  stated  in  the  data  taken  from  the 
official  reports  of  the  United  States  Statistical  Bureau,  and  which 
appear  on  pages  176  and  177.  The  following  data,  also  taken  from  the 
last  official  report  of  the  same  Bureau,  shows  a  comparative  increase  of 
trade. 

LEADING   MERCHANDISE  IMPORTS   FROM   MEXICO. 

FISCAL  YEAR  FISCAL  YEAR 

1896-1897.  1895-1896. 

Henequen,  tons 62,839  51,167 

Value $3,809,415  $3,339,180 

Ixtle  fibre,  tons 6,313  12,207 

Value $335,841  $717,585 

Oranges,  value $258,340  $212,913 

Tobacco,  Ibs... 749,560  93,197 

Value $297,262  $28,025 

Mahogany,  feet 8,791  10,654 

Value $321,800  $414,817 

Coal,  tons 99,760  72,056 

Value... $218,456  $146,813 

I  also  append  a  similar  statement  of  some  of  the  articles  exported 
from  the  United  States  into  Mexico  during  the  last  fiscal  year,  com- 
pared with  the  previous  one,  ended  June  30,  1896,  embracing  only 
such  exports  as  are  not  specifically  stated  in  the  data  taken  from 
the  official  reports  of  the  United  States  Statistical  Bureau,  appearing 
on  pages  178  to  183,  and  which  I  also  take  from  the  last  official  re- 
port of  the  same  Bureau.  When  it  is  taken  into  consideration  that  the 
Mexican  imports  from  the  United  States  during  the  last  fiscal  year  were 
made  on  a  falling  silver  market,  the  annexed  statement  shows  a  con- 
siderable financial  strength. 

EXPORTS   FROM    THE    UNITED    STATES   TO   MEXICO. 

( Fiscal year  1896-97  and  preceding  year.) 

1896-97.  1895-96. 

Cattle,  no 690  1,112 

Value.; $29,186  $39,509 

Hogs,  no 22,164  i7,54o 

Value $263,083  $206,807 


witb  tbe  Unites  States,  185 

1896-97.          1895-96. 

Agricultural  implements $130,825  $119,838 

Books,  maps,  etc $161,143  $107,384 

Carriages  and  cars .'...  $615,468  $687,425 

Coal  and  coke,  tons 219,111  121,269 

Value $643,715  $377,469 

Bicycles $73,117  $24,278 

Fruits  and  nuts $72,654  $78,497 

Hops $55,6io  $8,289 

Hardware $2,874,283  $2,455,400 

Leather $16,456  $24,014 

Crude  petroleum,  gals 7,090,853  6,779,059 

Value $349,021  $392,510 

Refined  petroleum,  gals 836,628  631,147 

Value $174,107  $142,761 

(Includes  lubricating  oil.) 

Cotton-seed  oil,  gals 1,616,407  1,588,504 

Value $320,496  $337,892 

Paraffin,  Ibs 2,888,475  2,975,476 

Value $144,805  $163,644 

Tallow,  Ibs 997,216  1,783,788 

Value $36,561  $77,050 

Hams $28,976  $29,487 

Butter $40,089  $33, 169 

Wool,  Ibs 1,698,952  2,605,150 

Value $140,609  $238,316 

Tropical  Products  Supplied  by  Mexico  to  the  United  States. — It  will  be 
interesting  to  state  in  what  proportion  Mexican  imports  of  tropical  pro- 
ducts figure  in  the  total  imports  of  said  commodities  into  this  country. 

From  1892  to  1896  the  annual  average  of  importation  of  vanilla 
beans  into  the  United  States  was  205,197  pounds,  of  which  Mexico  fur- 
nished 142,727  pounds,  or  6pJ  per  cent.  Mexico  receives  for  her 
vanilla  crop,  annually,  $640,000  gold. 

Mexico's  average  annual  exportation  of  coffee  to  the  United  States 
for  the  past  five  years  was  28,927,410  pounds,  or  4.8  per  cent,  of  the 
total  American  purchase  of  coffee,  Brazil  furnishing  70  per  cent., 
Central  America  7.6  per  cent,  Venezuela  6.4  per  cent.,  and  the 
British  West  Indies  i.i  per  cent  There  is  plenty  of  room  for  the 
Mexican  coffee-growing  industry  to  expand.  Mexico's  fine  flavored, 
mild  coffees  are  steadily  gaining  in  favor  in  the  United  States. 

In  henequen,  or  sisal  grass,  Mexico  takes  the  leading  place  in  the  im- 
port trade  of  the  United  States,  selling,  of  the  total  received  there,  98.1 
per  cent.  The  average  annual  importation  for  the  past  five  years  was 
50,129  tons,  of  which  Mexico  furnished  49,195,  Cuba  277,  British  Aus- 
tralia 386,  and  all  other  countries  271.  Mexico  received  a  yearly  aver- 
age, during  the  five  years,  for  her  henequen,  of  $4,218,267,  gold.  AIL 
of  which  went  to  the  State  of  Yucatan. 


1 86  Statistical  Motes  on 

In  sugar,  Mexico  holds  but  an  insignificant  place  in  the  American 
importation,  which  showed  an  annual  average,  during  the  past  five 
years,  of  3,827,799,481  pounds,  Cuba  furnishing  46.5  per  cent,  and 
Hawaii  7.9  per  cent. 

We  could  expand  very  largely  our  sugar  production  and  supply  this 
country  with  almost  all  of  that  product,  but  as  sugar  is  produced  in 
Louisiana  and  as  Hawaii  is  likely  to  belong  to  the  United  States 
the  protective  policy  of  this  country  will  not  allow  us  to  supply  the 
United  States  with  that  commodity  on  a  large  scale. 

Mexico  is  sending  on  an  average  every  year,  1,400,000  pounds  of 
wool  to  the  United  States.  In  1892  she  exported  but  190  pounds. 

The  United  States  takes,  annually,  an  average  of  50,493,000  pounds 
of  goat  skins,  of  which  Mexico  furnishes  3,007,000,  or  5.9  per  cent. 
Of  other  hides  and  skins  the  United  States  imports  167,  993,000  pounds, 
Mexico's  share  being  4.3  per  cent. 

The  cattle  trade  of  Mexico  with  the  United  States  increased  consid- 
erably under  the  liberal  provisions  of  the  Wilson  Bill,  which  taxed  cattle 
with  20  per  cent,  ad  valorem.  The  following  statement  shows  how 
large  the  increase  of  that  trade  was  under  that  bill : 

CATTLE   EXPORTED    TO    THE    UNITED    STATES. 

Years.  Number.  Gold  Value. 

1892 1,438 $         7,740 

1893 2,597 16,376 

1894 1,469 n,857 

1895 148,431 720,864 

1896.. 216,913 1,481,954 

(Fiscal  years  ended  June  3oth.) 

Mexico  has  been  for  at  least  two  years  the  most  important  source 
of  supply  to  the  United  States  for  cattle  purchased  abroad,  Canada 
furnishing,  in  1896,  cattle  to  the  value  of  but  $18,902,  and  the  United 
Kingdom  $6,684.  The  cattle  trade  is  one  in  which  American,  as  well  as 
Mexican  capital  is  embarked,  but  it  will  be  considerably  diminished 
if  not  completely  destroyed  under  the  highly  protective  tariff. 

COINAGE. 

In  the  chapter  on  Mining  I  gave  a  concise  statement  of  the  silver  and 
gold  coined  in  Mexico  from  the  time  of  its  discovery  by  the  Spaniards 
to  the  fiscal  year  ended  June  30,  1896,  and  it  appears  from  the  same 
that  the  total  coinage  of  silver  amounted  to  $3,398,664,400. 

According  to  the  report  of  the  Director  of  the  Mint  (page  347) 
on  the  "  Production  of  Precious  Metals  in  the  United  States  during 


Coinage. 


187 


the  Calendar  Year  1895,"  the  last  one  out  as  this  paper  goes  to  press, 
the  total  production  of  silver  of  the  world  from  1493  to  1895  is  $10,- 
345,688,700,  the  Mexican  coinage  being  over  one-third  of  the  whole. 

It  must  be  borne  in  mind  that  that  statement  embraces,  so  far  as 
Mexico  is  concerned,  only  the  silver  coined,  and  it  does  not  take  into 
consideration  the  silver  used  in  the  arts,  which  used  to  be  a  considerable 
.amount,  as  almost  every  well-to-do  Mexican  had  forks,  spoons,  plates 
and  other  table  ware  and  household  articles  of  solid  silver.  It  does  not 
embrace  either  such  silver  as  was  smuggled  in  bullion,  which,  consider- 
ing the  large  extent  of  the  Mexican  sea  coast,  its  scanty  population  and 
the  general  demoralization  during  our  civil  wars  represents  a  very  large 
amount.  It  can,  therefore,  be  safely  stated  that  the  production  of  silver 
in  Mexico,  not  coined,  represents  at  least  from  one-fourth  to  one-third 
-of  the  amount  coined.  Therefore,  the  production  of  silver  by  Mexico 
may  be  safely  estimated  at  from  $5,000,000,000,  to  $6,000,000,000,  which 
is  about  one-half  of  the  total  product  of  the  world. 

The  following  statement  shows  the  am6unt  of  silver  coined  by  the 
several  mints  of  Mexico  from  their  establishment  to  June  30,  1895, 
stating  the  years  in  which  the  coinage  was  made  : 

COINAGE    BY    THE    MEXICAN    MINTS    FROM    THEIR   ESTABLISHMENT   IN 
1535    TO    JUNE    30,    1895. 


PERIOD    OF  COINAGE. 

MINTS. 

COINAGE. 

1868-1895  

Alamos  

$     22,828,869 

1863-1866  

1,321,545 

1811-1895  

62,465,756 

1846—1895 

Culiacan             

46  4^8  160 

1811—1895 

Durango         ..      

67  128  q66 

l8l2-l8o<; 

64,127,846 

l8d4.—  184.0.  . 

4,375,062 

1812—1895 

307,364,150 

1852—1895              •                   .     • 

19,659,506 

1  5^^—180^ 

2,453,110,110 

l8^7    180^ 

Oaxaca     ..         •  

«;,76i,o45 

1827   1893 

San  Luis  Potosi.  ...   ...      . 

1  13.  143.  3^8 

l8lo—l8l2    

1,551,248 

1827—1830      

Tlalpam  

I,l62,66o 

1810-1895      .          .         .            

350,341,499 

Total  

$3,520,779,189 

I  give  a  statement  of  the  production  of  gold  and  silver  in  Mexico 
in  the  fiscal  years  1879-1880,  1889-1890  and  1894-1895,  which  shows 


1 88 


Statistical  IRotes  on 


a  considerable  increase  in  each  of  those  years,  and  this  statement  only 
represents  such  amounts  of  the  precious  metals  as  were  either  exported 
in  bullion  or  taken  to  the  mints,  and  not  the  production  that  is  other- 
wise disposed  of. 


PRODUCTION   OF   GOLD  AND   SILVER   IN   MEXICO  IN  THE  FISCAL  YEARS 
1879-1880,  1889-1890  AND  1894-1895. 


1879-1880. 

1880-1890. 

1894-1895. 

Kilo- 
grams. 

1 

Value. 

Kilo- 
grams. 

Grams. 

Value. 

Kilo- 
grams. 

I 

3, 
O 

Value. 

Gold  coined        .  .   . 

772 

622 

598 
032 

$     521,826 
420,131 

e 

219 
524 

$      243,298 
457,6n 

807 
6,217 

260 
35i 

I     545,237 
4,199,305 

Gold  exported  
Total 

1.394 

630 

94i,957 

1,037 

743 

700,909 

7,024 

611 

4,744,54* 

Silver  coined,  
Silver  exported  

Total 

587,034 
74,302 

804 
310 

24,018,529 
3,040,079 

594,606 
362,418 

£ 

24,328,326 
14,828,361 

675,277 
747,283 

55i 
490 

27,628,981 
30,575,104 

661,337 

114 

27,058,608 

957,025 

223 

39,156,687 

1,422,561 

041 

58,204,085 

Total  of  gold  and 
silver  

$28,000,565 

$39,857,596 

$62,948,627- 

The  following  statement  gives  the  exports  of  the  precious  metals 
from  Mexico  during  the  same  years  embraced  in  the  preceding  table. 


EXPORT    OF    PRECIOUS   METALS    AND    MINERALS    FROM    MEXICO   IN     THE 
FISCAL   YEARS  1879-1880,   1889-1890  AND   1894-1895. 


VALUE  IN  MEXICAN  DOLLARS. 

1879-1880. 

1889-1890. 

1894-1895. 

59,66o 
10,935,353 
34,887 
164,113 

4,139,645 

6,394,662 
13,204 
96,592 
457,611 

220,567 
760,683 
420,132 

Mexican  gold  coined  

Foreign  silver  coined     

314,537 
16,783,317 

141,033 

23,084,489 

1,810 
7,259^959 

485,326 
17,077,119 
50,866 
18,803,876 

Mexican  silver  coined       

3,040,079 
581 

Manufactured  silver     

368,872 
803,058 

785,009 

Argentiferous  zinc.  

21,539,896 

38,621,290 

52,535,854 

Coinage* 


189 


It  may  be  interesting  to  state  the  amount  of  silver  exported  and 
coined  in  Mexican  mints  from  1874  to  1896,  which  is  the  following  : 


EXPORTED. 

COINED. 

1874.—  7  C 

$16  038  21^ 

$10  386  0^8 

IQ  454  O54 

1876—77 

21  415  128 

1877-78.  . 

2O  8^  O74 

22  084  2O3 

1878-79  

IQ.-I-JQ  JCI 

22  l62  988 

1870—80.  . 

20  307  ^6^ 

24  Ol8  52O 

1880-81  

17  774.  QIO 

24  6l7  3Q5 

1881-82  

in  700,704 

25  146  260 

1882—83  

28  441  212 

24  083  922 

i88q-84.  . 

•22,242  77O 

2K  377  37Q 

1884-8"; 

•32  77O  QOO 

2C  84O  728 

1885-86  

20  160  8"?«; 

26  991  805 

1886-87  

<?2  642  785 

26  844  O3i 

1887-88...  

3O,286  247 

25  862  Q77 

1888-89  

^7  082  Q48 

26  031  223 

1880-00.  . 

07  Qi2  848 

24  328  326 

1800-01.  . 

35,  2^0  131 

24  237  44Q 

1801—  02.  .  . 

46  272  3QI 

2C  5*>7  Ol8 

44  3O3  <Q3 

27  160  876 

1803-04  

36  OI2.05O 

•2Q  l8*t  6l2 

1804—0^ 

a6  716  87O 

27  628  981 

46  722  82"? 

22  6^4  788 

$616,741,920 

$541,029,630 

The  preceding  statement  gives  correct  data  of  the  exports  of  silver 
from  the  fiscal  year  1874-1875  to  the  fiscal  year  1895-1896,  excepting 
the  years  1875-1876  and  1876-1877,  which  are  not  included  for  want 
of  data.  The  difference  between  the  two  amounts  for  these  years  is 
$75,7 12,290,  showing  the  large  proportion  of  silver  which  was  not  coined, 
and  was  exported  in  bullion. 

The  following  statement  shows  that  the  export  of  Mexican 
silver  reached  almost  its  minimum  in  the  year  1887-1888,  and  its  maxi- 
mum in  the  year  1892-1893,  with  the  exception  of  the  last  one.  The 
minimum  coincided  with  the  first  sterling  loan  negotiated  by  Mexico  ; 
the  second  sterling  loan  negotiated  in  1890  caused  a  decrease  in  the 
export  of  Mexican  silver  coin  of  26  per  cent.,  as  compared  with  the 
previous  fiscal  year  of  1889-1890.' 

The  export  of  silver  bullion  has  steadily  increased  since  1872-1873, 
until  it  was  in  1895-1896  seventeen  times  as  large  as  in  the  first  named 
year.  During  the  first  fiscal  year  of  those  embraced  in  the  above  table, 
the  export  of  silver  bullion  was  1.4  to  22.6  as  compared  with  silver  coin, 
and  in  the  year  1895-1896  the  proportion  was  15.3  to  20.5.  In  the 
year  1872-1873  the  export  of  silver  bullion  represented  6  per  cent,  of 


1 9o 


Statistical  IRotes  on 


the  total  export  of  silver,  while  in  the  fiscal  year  1895-1896  it  repre- 
sented 20  per  cent. 

The  export  of  silver  ore  only  began  in  the  fiscal  year  1886-1887. 

EXPORTS   OF   SILVER    FROM    JULY    1ST,    1872,    TO    JUNE    3OTH,    1896. 


FISCAL   YEARS. 

COINS. 

BULLION. 

ORES. 

OTHER 
FORMS. 

TOTAL 

VALUE. 

$         8  716 

ft        .      a 

1872—1874.  

18,481  386 

1874   l8?S 

ft            ^A 

ft                                    *rt 

$>  ggc 

ft                 A 

ft                   /r       R 

*           87 

$                6 

1878   1870.  .  . 

'^OI'r& 

1879-1880  

21     5°l4°° 

•§1 

19,020,089 

1880-1881  

376 

1881  1882  

ii  607  888 

Average  in  five  years  

$1  787 

$l8  374  086 

ft                             Q 

ft 

£ 

ft        a 

1883-1884  

67'8i5 

1884  1885 

1885  1886  

i  800  873 

ft                   *rt 

ft        -      a 

1887-1888  

ft 

ft                             « 

ft 

$17  188  76^; 

1888-1889  

22  686  337 

804    860 

8  874  4^7 

1,282     151 

Average  in  five  years  

$7  583  644 

180-3—  1804  

$ie_28Q  38l 

Total  in  the  twenty-two  years  

$85  808  033 

$688  471  479 

Average  for  the  twenty-two  years.  .  . 

$  19,502,140 

$    6,519,027 

$  3,904,496 

$      1,368,279 

$31,294,158 

MEXICAN    GOLD    EXPORTS. 

Our  production  of  gold  used  to  be  very  small  for  reasons  already 
given,  but  the  present  high  price  of  that  metal  is  increasing  consider- 
ably our  output  of  the  same. 

The  exports  of  gold  from  Mexico  in  the  fiscal  year  ended  June  30, 
1896,  amounted  to  $5,800,000,  as  declared  by  the  Mexican  Bureau  of 
Statistics,  but  even  this  statement  is  not  correct,  as  it  needs  the  follow- 
ing additions,  shown  by  experience  and  reliable  authorities  :  about 
15  per  cent,  for  gold  exports  made  without  any  return,  2  per  cent,  for 
undervaluation,  0.5  per  cent,  used  in  the  arts  in  Mexico,  i  per  cent., 
possibly  more  now,  with  the  increasing  prosperity  of  the  country,  re- 
tained in  the  banks,  2  per  cent,  in  circulation,  making  a  total  of  20.5 
per  cent,  to  be  added  to  the  official  return,  which  brings  up  the  produc- 


/IDejican  (Bolfc  ]££portefc. 


191 


tion  of  gold  in  Mexico  to  $6,989,000  for  the  year  1896  and  even  this 
figure  is  considered  very  low. 

Mexican  Gold  Exported  to  the  United  States. — The  United  States  is 
our  principal  market  for  the  gold  we  produce. 

The  following  statement  furnished  to  me  on  February  6,  1897,  by 
the  Director  of  the  Mint  of  the  Treasury  Department  of  the  United 
States,  contains  the  imports  of  gold  bullion,  ore  and  coin  into  the 
United  States,  as  reported  by  the  Collector  of  Customs,  from  1891  to 
1895,  and  from  the  fiscal  years  ending  June  30,  1892,  to  June  30,  1896. 

"  IMPORTS   OF    GOLD  BULLION,  ORE    AND   COIN  FROM    MEXICO    INTO    THE 
UNITED  STATES  AS  REPORTED  BY  COLLECTORS  OF  CUSTOMS. 


YEARS. 

ORE. 

BULLION. 

COIN. 

TOTAL. 

1801            .               

$     222  088 

$1   IQ2  183 

$067  OI5 

$  I  781  286 

1892     ....               

711  6?2 

T  714  /i/in 

•ago  711 

2  806  823 

1803 

507,647 

I  566  728 

265  315 

2  33Q  6QO 

1804.  .          

673,^8'? 

I,o64,72I 

qg  376 

I  776  68O 

l8o5 

QQ7  221 

2  4.7*  206 

34  217 

q  4.66  7^d. 

Total          

$•2  112  211 

$7  Q7"3  ^68 

$1  O85  634 

$12  171  217 

"  For  additional  information  see  Report  on  Production  of  Precious  Metals,  1894, 
page  248,  and  the  same  report  for  1895,  page  289. 

"Yours,  R.  D.  Preston, 

*'  Mint  Bureau,  February  6,  1897." 

"  IMPORTS  OF  GOLD    ORE,  BULLION    AND    COIN    FROM    MEXICO    INTO    THE 
UNITED  STATES  AS  REPORTED  BY  COLLECTORS  OF  CUSTOMS. 


FISCAL  YEARS  ENDING 
JUNE  30. 

ORE. 

BULLION. 

COIN. 

TOTAL. 

l8Q2 

&    246  840 

«ll  336  5Q3 

$     542  4QQ 

$2  125  Q4I 

l8Q3 

886  284 

I,Q23,565 

3OO  OI2 

3  IOQ  86l 

1804  

502,023 

I,2IO,757 

116,823 

1,820  6O3 

l8q5  

810,066 

1,635,852 

36,835 

2,482,753 

l8q6. 

i  108  830 

2,826,327 

72  482 

4  OO7  648 

Total           

$3  554  O6l 

$8,  033,004 

ii  068  651 

gl-j  ece  806 

44  Treasury  Department,  Mint  Bureau,  February  6,  1897." 

Mr.  Preston  completed  the  above  information  with  other  data  ob- 
tained from  private  parties  in  the  following  manner  :  communicated  to 
me  in  a  letter  dated,  February  6,  1897,  enclosing  the  two  preceding 
statements. 

"  I  would  add,  for  your  information,  that  from  returns  received  by  this  Bureau, 
from  private  refineries,  and  the  deposits  of  foreign  bullion  at  the  Mints  and  Assay 


Statistical  IRotes  on 


Offices  of  the  United  States  during  the  calendar  years  1894  and  1895  the  amount  of 
gold  credited  to  Mexico  was  reported  to  be  as  follows  :  , 

1894. 
Reported   by  private  refineries  as    extracted    from    Mexican  ores  and 

bullion  .......................................................  $2,360,765 

Gold  bullion  deposited  at  the  United  States  Assay  Office  at  New  York.  .  .        735,787 
Deposited  at  the  Mint  at  San  Francisco  ...............................        290,713 

Total  .......  .......................  .....................  $3,387,265 

1895. 
Gold  extracted  from  Mexican  ores  and  bullion  by  private  refineries  .......  $3,843,783 

Gold  deposited  at  the  United  States  Assay  Office  at  New  York  ..........        560,775 

Mexican  gold  bullion  deposited  at  the  United  States  Mint  at  San  Francisco        504,745 


Total 


The  preceding  official  data  from  the  United  States  Treasury  Depart- 
ment was  not  complete,  as  will  appear  from  the  following  table  pre- 
pared by  the  Bureau  of  Statistics  of  the  Mexican  Republic  : 

GOLD    EXPORTED    FROM   MEXICO    TO   THE   UNITED   STATES. 
CALENDAR   YEARS. 


1891. 

1892. 

1893. 

1894. 

1895. 

1896. 

Gold  ore 

$      16,700 
53*769 
497,400 

$    100,595 
45.390 
279,699 
126,184 

$    "3,548 
9i,936 
99,415 
257,761 

$        5,767 
177,089 
1,606,152 
144,515 

$      87,695 
109,421 
4,368,898 

$    324,305 
477,505 
6,851,564 
528,460 
31,231 
3,026 

Coined  

Bullion  *.  .  .  .  • 

Mixed1  

31,231 
3,026 

Sulphite  

According  to  information 
from  Mexico  

$    567,869 
$1,781,286 

$     551,768 
2,806,823 

$     562,660 
2,339,6oo 

$1,933,523 
1,776,680 

$4,600,271 
3,466,734 

$8,216,091 
12,171,213 

According  to  information 
from  the  United  States 

Differences 

+  $1,213,417 

+  $2,255,055 

+  $1,777,030 

-  $    156,843 

+  $3,955,122 

$I,I33,537 

Gold  ore.,,....  

FISCAL  YEARS. 

1891-1892. 

1892-1893. 

1893-1894. 

1894-1895. 

1895-1896. 

TOTAL. 

$      31,289 
4i,259 
474,  J  56 

$    145,785 
74,798 
115,642 
271,913 

$      55,799 
121,915 
116,994 
256,547 

$        8,889 
150,544 
3,687,872 

$    160,555 
147,981 
4,608,959 

$      402,317 
536,497 
9,003,623 
528,460 
80,947 
31,332 

•Coined 

Bullion1  

80,947 
3!,332 

Sulphite  

According  to  information 
from  Mexico  
According  to  information 
from  the  United  States 

$    546,704 
2,125,941 

$    608,138 
3,109,861 

$    551,255 
1,829,603 

$3>847,3°5 
2,482,753 

$5,°29,774 
4,007,648 

$10,583,176 
13,555,806 

Differences  

+  $1,579,237 

+  $2,501,723 

+  $1,278,348 

-  $1,364,552 

—  $1,022,126 

+  $2,972,630 

1  From  the  ist  of  July,  1894,  the  "  Bullion  "  includes  the  value  of  the  gold  contained  in  the  mixed  ore. 

This  instance  shows  how  difficult  it  is  for  the  commercial  statistics 
of  both  countries  to  agree,  even  when  the  merchandise  is  entered  with 
the  same  value  in  both  as  in  the  present  case. 


193 


RAILWAYS. 


The  following  table  contains  a  list  of  all  the  railways,  exclusive  of 
the  tramways,  built  in  Mexico  up  to  October  31,  1896,  prepared  by  the 
Department  of  Communications  of  the  United  Mexican  States  : 

OFFICIAL  STATEMENT  MADE  BY  THE  DEPARTMENT  OF   COMMUNICATIONS 

OF    THE   MEXICAN    GOVERNMENT   OF    THE    RAILROAD    MILEAGE 

IN   OPERATION    ON    OCTOBER   31,    1896. 

(i)  The  initials  at  the  beginning  of  each  line  of  this  table  stand  for  the  guage  of  the  railroads  ;  S.  for 
standard,  N.  for  narrow,  and  B.  for  both. 


NAME. 

DATE  OF 
CONCESSION. 

LENGTH. 

FROM  AND  TO. 

<i)  S.  Mexican. 

Nov.    27,  1867 

292.50 

Mexico  to  Veracruz  and  Apizaco 

to  Puebla. 

S.    Merida  to  Progreso. 

Jan.      17,  1874 

22.65 

Merida  to  Progreso. 

N.  Hidalgo. 

Feb.       2,  1878 

92-43 

Tepa  to  Sototlan,  Tepa  to  Pa- 

chuca  and   San   Augustin   to 

Tepa. 

B.   Veracruz  to  Alvarado. 

Mar.    26,  1878 

43-75 

Veracruz  to  Medellin  and  Me- 

dellin  to  Alvarado. 

N.  Merida  to  Peto. 

Mar.    27,  1878 

68.97 

Merida  to  Ingenio  de  Sta.  Maria. 

N.  Interoceanic       from 

Apr.     16,  1878 

489.74 

Mexico  to  Veracruz,  Mexico  to 

Acapulco  to  Vera- 

Puente Ixtla  by  Morelos  and 

cruz. 

branches  of  Virreyes  to  Libres 

and  San  Nicolas. 

N.  Puebla  to  Izucar  de 

May      6,  1878 

52.39 

Los  Arcos  to  Cholula,  Cholula 

Matamoros. 

to    Atlixco   and    Atlixco    to 

Matamoros. 

S.    Mexican  Western. 

Aug.     16,  1880 

38.48 

Culiacan  to  Altata. 

S.    Mexican  Central. 

Sept.      8,  1880 

1,877.15 

Mexico  to  Paso  del  Norte,  Silao 

to    Guanajuato,    Irapuato  to 

Guadalajara,     Aguascalientes 

to  Tampico,  San  Bias  to  Hua- 

ristemba  and  Guadalajara  to 

Ameca. 

N.  Mexican  National. 

Sept.    13,  1880 

1,056.16 

Mexico  to   Laredo,    Acambaro 

to  Psatzcuaro,  Matamoros   to 

S.  Miguel,   Mexico  to  Salto, 

belt   tramways  from  suburbs 

of  Mexico  called  La  Colonia 

extension  to  Salto. 

N.  Mexican      National 

Sept.    13,  1880 

88.30 

Manzanillo  to  Colima  and  Za- 

Construction  Com- 

catecas to  Ojo  Caliente. 

pany. 

S.    Sonora. 
N.  Merida  to  Valladolid. 

Sept.    14,  1880 
Dec.     15,  1880 

262.40 
67.53 

Guaymas  to  Nogales. 
Merida  to  Valladolid  and  Pro- 

greso to  Conkal. 

N.  Tlalmanalco. 

Feb.      3,  1881 

16.56 

Tlalmanalco     to    Chalco     and 

Amecameca. 

N.  Merida  to  Campeche. 

Feb.    23,  1881 

97.80 

Merida  to  Campeche,  Campeche 
to  Calkini  and  connecting  line 

with  the  railroad  from  Merida 

to  Progreso. 

I94 


Statistical  IRotes  on 


NAME. 

DATE  OF 
CONCESSION. 

LENGTH. 

FROM   AND   TO. 

N.  Campeche  to  Lerma. 

Feb.     23,  1881 

3.73 

Campeche  to  Lerma. 

S.    Mexican       Interna- 

June     7,  1881 

658.28 

Porfirio   Diaz  City  to  Torreon 

tional. 

and     Durango,     Sabinas     to- 

Hondo,    Matamoros  to  Zara- 

goza,  Hornos    to  San  Pedro, 

branch   from    Velardena   and 

Monclova  to  Cuatro  Cienegas. 

N.  Nautla  to  San  Mar- 

June   25,  1881 

47.22 

San  Marcos  toward  Nautla  and 

cos. 

branch  to  Libres. 

N.  San  Juan  Bautista  to 

Sept.    17,  1881 

3.57 

S.  Juan  Bautista  to  Tamulte. 

Paso  del  Carrizal. 

S.    Chalchicomula. 

Sept.    20,  1  88  1 

6.43 

San  Andres  Chalchicomula. 

S.    Orizaba  to  Ingenio. 

Sept.    22,  1881 

4.69 

Orizaba  to  Ingenio. 

S.    Santa  Ana  to  Tlax- 

Dec.     u,  1882 

5.28 

Santa  Ana  to  Tlaxcala. 

cala. 

N.  Cardenas  to  the  River 

May     12,  1883 

4.66 

Cardenas  to  the  River  Grijalva. 

Grijalva. 

N.  Toluca  to  San  Juan 

May     25,  1883 

9-77 

Toluca   to    San    Juan    de    las 

de  las  Huertas. 

Huertas. 

N.  Vanegas,        Cedral, 

June     n,  1883 

40.39 

Vanegas  to  Cedral  and  branch 

Matehuala  and  Rio 

to  Potrero. 

Verde. 

S.    Tehuacan  to  Esper- 

Nov.    28,  1883 

31.07 

Esperanza  to  Tehuacan. 

anza. 

S.    Merida  to  Izamal. 

May     15,  1884 

40.91 

Merida  to  Izamal. 

S.    Chihuahua  and  Hi- 

Nov.   13,  1884 

6.83 

Chihuahua  to  the  Sierra  Madre 

dalgo  to  the  Sierra 

and  Jimenez  to  Balleza. 

Madre. 

N.  Southern  Mexican. 

Apr.     21,  1886 

228.00 

Puebla  to  Oaxaca. 

S.    Tonala  to  Textla  and 

Dec.     16,  1886 

31-07 

Tonala  to  Kilomete. 

Frontera. 

S.    Lower  California. 

May     25,  1887 

16.78 

San   Quintin   to   the    Colorado" 

River. 

S.    Monterey  to  the  Gulf. 

Nov.    10,  1887 

388.12 

Monterey  to  Trevino  and  Mon- 

terey to  Tampico. 

N.  Tecolutla  to  Espinal. 

Dec.    10,  1887 

13.04 

Tecolutla  to  Espinal. 

S.    Cordova  to  Tuxtepec. 
S.    Pachuca  to  Tampico. 

May     19,  1888 
June      5,  1888 

31.69 

6.21 

Cordova  to  Motzorongo. 
Isolated  Branch. 

N.  Maravatio  to   Cuer- 

Aug.    16,  1888 

40.84 

Maravatio   towards  Cuernavaca 

navaca. 

and  branches  to  Agangueo  to 

Trojes. 

N.    Mexican  Northeast- 

Aug.   28,  1888 

31.12 

Mexico  to  Tizayuca. 

ern. 

N.  Salamanca  to  Jaral. 

Aug.    30,  1888 

21.75 

Salamanca  to  Jaral. 

N.   Monte  Alto. 

Aug.    30,  1888 

6.21 

Tlalnepantla  to  Pedregal. 

N.  Veracruz  to  Boca  del 

Aug.    31,  1888 

13-67 

Veracruz  to  Boca  del  Rio. 

Rio. 

S.    National  Tehuante- 

Government 

192.38 

Coatzacoalcas  to  Salina  Cruz. 

pec. 

Road. 

S.    Ometusco  to  Pachuca. 

May     25,  1889 

28.40 

Ometusco  to  Pachuca. 

S.    Puebla  Industrial. 

July     21,  1889 

22.21 

Puebla  to  Constancia,  Cholula 

and  Huejotzingo. 

S.    Tula  to  Pachuca. 

Dec.     20,  1889 

43-49 

Tula  to  Pachuca. 

S.    Minero. 

Mar.    20,  1890 

80.94 

Escalon  to  Sierra  Mojada  and 

branches. 

S.    Mexico  to  Cuernavaca 

May     30,  1890 

58.65 

Mexico    to    Tres    Marias   and 

and  the  Pacific. 

Puente  de  Ixtla  to  Mexcala. 

N.  Mixcalco    to    Santa 

June    13,  1890 

2.77 

Mixcalco  to  Santa  Cruz. 

Cruz. 

195 


NAME. 

DATE  OF 
CONCESSION. 

LENGTH. 

FROM   AND   TO. 

N.  Izucar  of  Matamoros 

Nov.    21,  1890 

24.85 

Matamoros  towards  Acapulco. 

to  Acapulco. 

N.   Toluca  to  Tenango. 

Nov.    24,  1891 

4.35 

Toluca  to  Tenango. 

N.  Hacienda  of   Xava- 

Mar.    24,  1892 

2.49 

Hacienda  of  Xavaleta  to  San 

leta    to     the    San 

Rafael  Paper  Mill. 

Rafael  Paper  Fac- 

tory. 

S.    Esperanza  to  Xuchil. 
N.  Guanajuato    to  Do- 

Nov.   29,  1892 
May    24,  1893 

15.84 

6.21 

Esperanza  to  Xuchil  Station. 
Rincon  on  the  National  Rail- 

lores, Hidalgo  and 

road  to  San  Luis  de  la  Paz. 

San  Luis  de  la  Paz. 

S.    Villa  Lerdo  to  San 

June      3,  1893 

15.84 

Villa  Lerdo  to  Sacramento. 

Pedro  de  la  Colo- 

nia. 

N.  Celaya  to  the  farms 

June      2,  1893 

9.07 

Celaya  to  the  farms  of  Roque 

of  Roque  and  Plan- 

and  Plancarte. 

carte. 

N.  From  La  Compania 
to   the    Zoquiapan 

June    13,  1893 

5-17 

La  Compania  to  the  Zoquiapan 
farm. 

farm. 

S.    Cazadero  to  Solis. 

May    24,  1893 

18.64 

Cazadero     to     point     between 

the     stations    of    Solis     and 

Tepetongo. 

S.    Industrial  Railroads. 

Dec.     18,  1895 

1.86 

Mexico  to  Xochimilco. 

d) 

Total 

6  7OI    ^O 

ui  /  \fL  •  Ju 

(x)  This  amount  does  not  include  the  tramways. 


RESUME   OF    RAILWAYS  IN   MEXICO    IN    1895. 

KILOMETERS. 

Railroads  under  Federal  Grants io,723,k  113 

Tramways 427,    583 

Surburban  Railways  connecting  towns 410,    164 

Railroads  belonging  to  private  parties 87,   ooo 

Portable  Railroad,  Decauville  System 242,    252 


MILES. 
6,663,022 
265,687 
254,863 
54,059 
150,527 


Total n,890,kii2        7,388,158 

As  I  have  already  stated  most  of  the  roads  built  in  Mexico  have 
obtained  large  subsidies  from  the  government,  and  that  fact  has  con- 
tributed very  materially  to  their  present  prosperous  financial  condition, 
as  they  have  used  the  proceeds  of  the  subsidy,  not  only  to  build  the 
roads,  but  in  some  cases  to  pay  the  interest  on  their  bonds.  On  the 
whole  Mexican  roads  are  very  prosperous,  and  the  following  statements 
taken  from  the  official  reports  of  the  principal  roads  shows  their  trade 
and  earnings  are  increasing  considerably. 

The  Mexican  roads  like  the  Mexican  Government  have  been  very 
much  crippled  by  their  obligation  to  pay  in  gold  the  interest  on  their 
bonds  and  dividends  on  their  shares,  and  as  they  collect  their  freights 


i96 


Statistical  IRotes  on  Aexico. 


in  silver,  they  have  to  buy  gold  at  current  prices  to  pay  their  gold 
obligations,  and  the  depreciation  of  silver  causes  them  a  very  great 
loss,  but  notwithstanding  that  serious  drawback,  the  increase  in  their 
business  and  earnings  has  been  such  as  to  place  them  in  a  position  to 
meet  their  gold  obligations. 

I  give  below  a  statement  of  the  traffic  and  receipts  of  the  three 
principal  railways  in  Mexico,  namely  :  the  Mexican  Central,  Mexican 
National,  and  Mexican  International,  which  I  have  obtained  directly 
from  the  respective  companies.  I  also  give  similar  statements  from 
the  other  roads,  which  I  have  taken  from  statements  published  by  the 
Anuario  Estadistico  de  la  Republica  Mexicana  of  1895. 

Mexican  Central. — The  Mexican  Central  is  the  largest  road  so  far 
built  in  Mexico.  The  whole  of  the  main  line  was  opened  for  traffic 
in  1884,  and  all  figures  for  traffic  previous  to  July  i,  1884,  were 
thrown  into  Construction  Accounts.  The  annexed  statement  of  freights 
and  earnings  of  this  road  begins  therefore  in  1885,  and  shows  a  decided 
increase  every  year.  I  also  append  a  statement  of  the  traffic  and 
earnings  of  this  road  and  its  branch  from  Tula  to  Pachuca,  from  1881 
to  1895,  taken  from  the  Anuario  Estadistico  de  la  Republica  Mexicana  of 
1895,  which  has  been  compiled  from  data  furnished  by  the  company 
to  the  Mexican  Government.  (See  first  table  on  page  197.) 

EARNINGS   OF    THE   MEXICAN    CENTRAL    RAILWAY   FROM    1885    TO    1896. 

MEXICAN   CURRENCY. 


CALEN- 

MILEAGE 

METRIC 

FREIGHT 

NUMBER 

PASSENGER 

ALL   OTHER 

TOTAL  GROSS 

DAR 

OPER- 

TONS 

EARNINGS. 

OF    PAS- 

EARNINGS. 

EARNINGS. 

EARNINGS. 

YEAR. 

ATED. 

FREIGHT. 

SENGERS. 

I88S. 

1,235.90 

226,138 

$   2,287,410   14 

512,272 

$   1,100,268    62 

$    171,882  oo 

$  3,559,560   76 

1886. 
l887. 

1,235.90 
1,235.90 

245,398 
346,898 

2,511,028   78 
3,458,006  46 

573.896 
601,393 

1,168,750   24 
1,235,284  05 

177,926   83 

193,288  16 

3,857,705  85 
4,886,578  67 

1888. 

1,316.40 

S0?,^1 

4,244,648   52 

581,967 

1,321,511   96 

208,170  83 

5,774,331   31 

1889. 

1,461.85 

540,546 

4,683,290  74 

675,  H4 

I>420»375  76 

233,558  88 

6,337,225   38 

1890. 

1,527.20 

609,382 

4,702,142  48 

723,928 

i,436,3i7  68 

287,233  92 

6,425,694  08 

1891. 

1892. 

1,665.11 
1,824.83 

867,657 
1,091,785 

5,625,668  51 
6,183,149  29 

742,993 
73I,425 

!,470,940  51 
I,439,57I  60 

277,929  oo 
340,532  80 

7,374,538   02 
7>963,253   69 

l893. 
1894. 

1,846.64 
1,859.83 

860,187 
898,484 

6,130,347  06 
6,440,713  23 

792,025 
945,434 

1,443,793  73 
1,576,801  33 

407,627  52 
408,510  72 

7,981,768   3I 
8,426,025    28 

I895. 

1,859.83 

1,047,038 

7,145,041  44 

1,030,911 

1,828,072  61 

522,751  63 

9,495,865  68 

1896.          . 

!,869.6o 

1,231,025 

7,646,257  99 

1,259,623 

1,934,612  78 

627,149  62 

10,208,020  39 

Total.. 

18,938.99 

8,472,169 

$61,057,704  64 

9,171,011 

$I7i376,300  87 

$31856,561  Qi 

$82,290,567  42 

Mexican  National. — The  Mexican  National  obtained  its  first  con- 
cession from  the  Mexican  Government  in  1877,  but  it  was  amended 
from  time  to  time  thereafter,  until  all  the  amended  grants  were  grouped 
in  the  concession  approved  July  5,  1886,  under  which  the  road  is  now 
operated.  The  old  companies  did  not  print  any  reports,  and  there  is 
no  data  running  back  further  than  the  time  when  the  bondholders  took 
possession  of  the  property  at  the  foreclosure  sale,  which  occurred  in 
the  City  of  Mexico  on  May  23,  1887.  I  give  a  statement  of  the  traffic 


197 


and  earnings  of  the  road  from  1873  to  1895,  taken  from  the  Anuario 
Estadistico  de  la  Republica  Mexicana  in  1895,  which  was  compiled  with 
data  furnished  to  the  Mexican  Government  by  the  company. 

CENTRAL  RAILWAY  AND  BRANCH  FROM  TULA  TO  PACHUCA. 


M 

FREIGHT. 

Pi 

^ 

PASSEN- 

PASSENGER 

MISCELLANEOUS 

TOTAL 

w 

GERS. 

RECEIPTS. 

RECEIPTS. 

RECEIPTS. 

> 

Tons. 

Kilos. 

1881. 

303,543 

$          62,27O   2O 

7,012 

436 

$        33,413  44 

$          95,683   64 

1882. 

49^985 

442,726  54 

202,304 

993 

1,289,387   24 

I,732,H3    78 

1883. 

653,669 

726,830   09 

167,356 

565 

2,876,906   29 

3,603,736   38 

1884. 

761,687 

,111,906   96 

190,423 

972 

2,662,684  86 

3,774,591    82 

1885. 

694,894 

,111,062  54 

331,700 

260 

2,484,325  68 

3,595,388    22 

1886. 

769,655 

,185,662  53 

255,027 

in 

2,754,613  02 

3,940,275  55 

1887. 

797,693 

,251,743  98 

356,448 

976 

3,721,358  13 

4,973,102  ii 

1888. 

756,560 

,337,734  10 

519,261 

394 

4,554,830  53 

5,892,564  63 

1889. 

683,147 

,436,301  06 

576,324 

408 

5,081,628  68 

6,517,929  74 

1890. 

736,730 

,487,086  60 

694,966 

914 

5,212,261  40 

6,699,348  oo 

1891. 

753,276 

,512,415  42 

1,005,447 

237 

6,167,092  56 

7,679,507  98 

1892. 

735,363 

,442,310  99 

1,100,364 

029 

6,534,507  42 

7,976,818  41 

1893. 

792,025 

,443,793  73 

860,186 

545 

6,537,974  58 

7,981,768  31 

1894. 

945,434 

,576,801  35 

898,484 

071 

6,849,223  95 

8,426,025  30 

1895. 

1,030,911 

,828,072  61 

1,047,037 

836 

7,767,793  03 

9,595,865  64 

Total 

10,906,572 

$17,956,718  70 

8,212,346 

747 

$64,528,000  81 

$82,484,719  51 

MEXICAN    NATIONAL    RAILROAD. 


M 

ptf 

PAS- 

PASSENGER 

FREIGHT. 

MISCEL- 

TOTAL 

3 

LANEOUS 

W 
P 

SEJNGERS. 

RECEIPTS. 

Tons. 

Kilos. 

RECEIPTS. 

RECEIPTS. 

1873. 

247,547 

$     17,425  65 

$17  425  6* 

1874. 

584,075 

40,446  oi 

298 

860 

$     298  86 

•*•  /  »T°^O  ^0 

40,744  87 

1875. 

486,788 

43,027  18 

221 

140 

221  14 

43,248  32 

1876. 

486,000 

43,437  24 

698 

245 

709  41 

44,146  65 

1877. 

565,572 

52,759  84 

346 

499 

275  75 

53,035  59 

1878. 

529,333 

71,193  68 

3,209 

097 

3,845  61 

75,039  29 

1879. 

535,806 

74,277  07 

8,102 

920 

15,329  07 

89,606  14 

I880. 

466,897 

9!,505  23 

18,191 

400 

41,983  90 

133,489  13 

1881. 

903,049 

124,452  13 

26,234 

150 

47,320  oo 

171,772  13 

1882. 

900,855 

225,267  21 

105,549 

146 

229,586  51 

454,853  72 

1883. 

1,071,835 

341,614  87 

140,185 

779 

366,320  26 

707,935  13 

1884. 

878,878 

517,316  80 

254,804 

ooo 

743,423  74 

1,260,740  54 

1885. 

839,573 

492,822  92 

177,179 

000 

803,291  20 

1,296,114  12 

1886. 

891,711 

538,359  97 

132,661 

000 

I,0l8,0l8  51 

1,556,378  48 

1887. 

884,541 

537,520  17 

307,435 

ooo 

1,120,950  34 

1,658,470  51 

1888. 

907,113 

691,915  03 

370,300 

527 

1,880,684  24 

2,572,599  27 

1889. 

929,685 

864,309  90 

430,166 

055 

2,640,418  14 

3,504,728  04 

1890. 

937,527 

887,437  19 

487,598 

563 

2,684,550  59 

3,561,987  78 

1891. 

998,617 

994,951  69 

515,164 

143 

3,057,891  oo 

4,052,842  69 

1892. 

1,012,786 

973,768  72 

605,545 

610 

3,643,784  47 

4,6i7,553  19 

1893. 

935,167 

972,488  57 

571,524 

780 

3,191,146  37 

4,163,634  94 

1894. 

576,574 

865,698  53 

527,440 

000 

3,246,375  07 

4,112,073  60 

1895- 

926,516 

1,005,515  55 

642,535 

071 

3,426,841  93 

4,432,357  48 

Total 

17,496,445 

$10,467,511  15 

5,325,390 

985 

$28,152,266  ii 

$38,609,777  26 

198 


Statistical  IRotes  on 


o 

H 

Ox 
00 
00 

M 

1 


W  co 

w  g§ 

H  M 

S  rf 

en  w 

S  § 

§  I 


<§ 

M 

o 

0 

CO 

{^ 

"o 

S,        8 

en 

en 

& 

£• 

M 

CO 

en 

M 

CO 

en 

3 

in 

8 

1 

r>.           04 
m            m 

in 

I 

CO 

^ 

o 

CO 

CO 

^ 

en 

in 

*cT 

M 

M 

CO 

M 

o_ 

m 

CO 

04 

in 

M 

S 

en 

h-T 

«Q 

of 

04* 

r? 

\r> 

en 

*£. 

04 
CO 

ON 

£ 

0              0 
m            M 

R 

04 

rt 

w 

f^ 

rt 

m 

in 

i*^. 

CO              rt 

^i* 

^ 

O 

*"f" 

Q 

ON 

O             >n 

en 

CO 

in 

* 

Q 

o_ 

f->. 

04 

Jx, 

r> 

in 

co" 

o" 

^ 

o" 

en 

M" 

M" 

M" 

M 

04 

M 

O 

en 

r- 

—  J- 

f*N, 

04 

O 

q. 

W 

m 

^ 

O^ 

M 

CO 

<S 

•-> 

^ 

04" 

of 

oT 

CO 
04 

£. 

en 

en 

in 

vO 

g. 

ot          §» 

04 

en 

00 

0 

rt 
vn 

en 

en 

en 

oo 

o 

04               vO 

O             m 

M 

f 

£ 

^ 

rt 

ON 

CO 

en 

O 

M 

rt 

CO 

M 

1 

I 

04 

04 

in 

04 

en 

o 

ON 
04 

en 

§ 

°°« 

en 

ON 

vn 

CO 
CO 

ON 

en 

£. 

% 

CO* 

M 
M 

in 

O                04 

vO                 04 

04 

04 

s 

en 
o\ 

CO 
M 

en 

s 

in 

O 
en 

M 

1 

o 

r^           M 
en           o 

04 

M 
0^ 

1 

CO 

M 

in 

ON 

<£ 

C* 

04 

vS 

I 

CO 

in 

CO 

in 

in 

<& 

fl 

ei 

M* 

rt 

en 
rt 

m 

rt 

U 

O 
m 

s 

in 
in 

en           oT 

en 

CO 

s 

to 

H 

en 

CO 

M 

ON 

0 

en            rt 

Q 

J^ 

i 

CO 

M 

3; 

^t 

I 

en 

en 

04 

O 

vd" 

m 

in 

vS                ° 

8 

1 

S 

^« 

O^ 

M 

t--» 

q_ 

H 

en 

<£ 

^ 

en 

M 

O 

0 

en 

M 

ft 

s 

0 
in 

co              »n 
M               rt 

CO 

CO 

«^ 

f^ 

O 

CO 

Q^ 

d 

^ 

M               04 

in 

m 

M 

M 

CO 

0 

in 
en 

ON 

rt 

O 

o         " 

m 

ON 

J* 

co" 

vO" 

o" 

o~ 

en 

co" 

o" 

rC 

<£ 

rf 

M 

o^ 

04 

* 

8 

? 

in 

M 

M 

rt 

0 

«C 

M 

^ 

en 

M 

J 

M 

rt 

8 

ON 

gj 

0 

en 

co" 

rt               ON 

in 

in 
04 

SN 

0 

en 

s 

in 

ff 

in 

en 
O 

I 

M 

1       R 

J 

s 

CO 

rt 
in 

I 

2 

s 

rt 

rf 
in 

g 

04 

CO 

in 
en 

M 

'I 

CO 

!L 

3 

04' 

O 

CO 

en 

ON 

en 

en 

s> 

oT 

s 

O                CO 

CO 
CO 

$ 

in 

S 

04 

CO 

in 

en 

2 

en 

1      ~ 

CO 
CO 

CO 

01 

en 

in 

M 
0 

. 

M 

M 

en 

S 

? 

0 

04 

<£ 

^ 

04 

• 

• 

;        i 

^ 

i 

•       § 

rt    £ 

X 

W 

Jg 

; 

: 

•  o* 

IS 

s  8 

c 

OH 

r-J 

0 

rt 

E 

. 

C/j 

li 

1 

J 

n 

"e3 

W 

*          ^ 

P^ 

^ 

r^ 

o 

S 

G 

•    S 

0    ^ 

3 

| 

M 

OH 

X 

&  w 

*"  i 

1 

4j 

rt 

c 

rt 

I 

13 

H 

QB 

2   >2 

-g 

V 

H 

! 

Passenger 

% 

X 

W 

Telegraph 

Miscellan« 

"o 

Operating 

S       -M     C3 
rt       So 

W     g  •£ 

1  1 

1} 

1 

199 


I  also  append  a  statement  of  the  freights,  passengers,  express,  tele- 
graphs, and  miscellaneous  receipts,  as  well  as  the  expenses  and  earn- 
ings of  the  road  from  the  year  1889  to  1896,  taken  from  the  last 
official  report  of  the  companies.  It  will  be  noticed  that  the  traffic  and 
receipts  of  this  road,  like  the  Central,  have  been  steadily  increasing 
from  the  time  at  which  it  began  to  be  operated.  (See  table  on  page  198.) 

MEXICAN    INTERNATIONAL    RAILROAD    COMPANY, 
GROSS   EARNINGS   IN   MEXICAN   MONEY. 


YEAR. 

NO.  OF 

PASS'G'RS. 

PASSENGER 
RECEIPTS. 

FREIGHT. 

FREIGHT 

RECEIPTS. 

TOTAL 
RECEIPTS. 

Tons. 

Kilos. 

From  Dec. 
3d,  1883- 
1884  
1885 

h  15,942 

9,853 
10,411 
9,796 
41,170 
53,194 
59.327 
64,641 
60,967 
74,577 
77,456 
102,858 
111,480 

$  32,408  45 

25,881  44 
29,242  61 
32,516  71 
125,848  48 
140,676  05 
149,258  43 
170,304  oo 
181,378  14 
219,624  38 
208,551  86 
276,514  04 
313,904  13 

15,129 

50,896 

55,877 
86,889 
Il6,56l 
180,544 
222,856 
216,465 
390,802 

335,200 

376,734 
469,641 

525,951 

723 

181 

079 
772 

273 
270 

211 

739 
838 

769 
430 

859 
874 

$   37,575  oo 

118,177  80 
144,311  09 
189,184  86 
459,906  57 
691,477  04 
894,944  35 
956,546  91 
1,836,958  51 
1,743,140  42 

1,873,974  91 
2,197,463  36 
2,453,223  54 

$  69,983  45 

144,059  24 
173,553  70 

221,701  57 
585,755  05 
832,153  09 
1,044,202  78 
1,126,850  91 
2,018,336  65 
1,962,764  80 
2,082,526  77 
2,473,977  40 
2,767,127  67 

1886 

1887.. 

1888 

1880  . 

iuwy  .  . 

1800 

1891  

1802  .  . 

1803.  . 

1804 

180"? 

1806.. 

Total.. 

691,672 

$1,906,108  72 

3,043,552 

018 

$13,596,884  36 

$15,502,993  08 

MEXICAN  INTERNATIONAL  RAILWAY. 
(STATEMENT  FURNISHED  BY  THE  COMPANY.) 


YEAR. 

AVERAGE 
KILOMETRES 
OPERATED. 

GROSS  EARNINGS. 

AVERAGE 
EARNINGS 
PER 
KILOMETRE. 

AVERAGE 
EARNINGS 
PER  MILE. 

l88d 

24.5  .  2O 

$103,307   98 

$     42  I  49 

$       6l2   37 

1885. 

273.58 

153,916  18 

562  59 

9O5   39 

1886 

273    ^8 

185  I^O   25 

676  76 

1,098   II 

1887 

273.58 

237,394    13 

867  73 

1,396  43 

1888     

57-1.07 

656,781    41 

1,144  28 

1,841  47 

1889 

636  34. 

011.608    51 

1,412   73 

2  3O5   64 

1890 

637.38 

1,126,366   41 

1,745  64 

2,839  77 

1801 

658.30 

1,197,856  55 

1,819  69 

2,924  O2 

1802  .                        .  .  .  . 

746.37 

2,095,726  14 

2,807  89 

4,518  67 

1893  

922.19 

2,050,934  01 

2,226  15 

3,579  04 

1804 

Q22.IQ 

2,169,121  47 

2,352  14 

3,785  29 

"vt  
1805.  . 

947.23 

2,664,126  08 

2,812  54 

4,526  28 

1806 

I  Oil  .02 

2,900,925  33 

2,869  30 

4,617  69 

Total  

8.I2O.Q3 

$16,453,304  45 

$21,738  93 

$34,95°  I7 

Mexican  International.  The  Mexican  International,  which  has  been 
built  without  any  subsidy  from  the  Mexican  Government,  was  opened 
for  traffic  in  1883,  and  its  traffic  and  receipts,  like  the  other  two  roads, 
have  steadily  increased.  I  append  two  statements  of  this  road;  the 


200 


Statistical  Motes  on  /IDe£ic<x 


first,  furnished  me  by  the  company,  embraces  its  traffic  and  earnings 
from  1883  to  1896  ;  and  the  second  is  another  statement  furnished  me 
also  by  the  company,  showing  the  average  kilometres  operated,  gross 
earnings,  average  earnings  per  kilometre,  and  average  earnings  per  mile 
from  the  years  1884  to  1896.  (See  the  two  tables  on  page  199.) 

Mexican  Southern  Railway. — I  give  below  a  statement  of  the  number 
of  passengers,  amount  of  freight  and  earnings  of  the  Mexican  Southern 
Railway,  furnished  to  me  by  the  Company,  embracing  nine  months  of 
the  year  1893  and  the  whole  of  1894,  as  before  the  ist  of  April,  1893, 
the  road  was  run  by  the  Contractors,  and  the  Company  has  no  data  in 
their  possession.  I  also  append  a  statement  taken  from  the  Anuario 
Estadistico  de  la  Republica  Mexicana  of  1895,  embracing  the  traffic  and 

MEXICAN    SOUTHERN    RAILWAY. 


MONTHS. 

PASSEN- 
GERS. 

PASSENGER 
RECEIPTS. 

FREIGHT. 

FREIGHT 
RECEIPTS. 

TOTAL 
RECEIPTS. 

Tons. 

Kilos. 

1893. 

February  .... 

March  

April     

12,099 

9,943 

8,154 
11,865 

io,375 
10,405 
10,897 
11,893 
14,452 

$   14,647   21 
11,683    15 
7,119    78 
8,740   20 

9,577  9i 
9,751  47 
10,317  54 
12,661  99 
17,096  43 

2,554 
2,262 

1,344 
i,355 
2,568 
2,019 
2,145 
3,296 
2,943 

8  10 
790 
950 
420 
330 

000 

150 

070 
420 

$  2O,243   OI 
15,421    87 

9,541  oo 

5,707   05 
23,762    64 
17,322   40 
16,941    41 
16,276    89 
15,702   01 

$  38,172    41 
29,506    27 
18,209    89 

16,671  95 
35,959  30 
30,947  32 
29,945  7i 
31,839  26 
38,308  76 

May  

June  

July 

August  
September  .  .  . 
October  
November  .  .  . 
December  .  .  . 

Total      .    . 

100,083 

$101,595  68 

20,489 

940 

$140,918   28 

$269,560  87 

Number  of  Passengers  according  to  official  Tables. .......         142,919. 

Tons  "  "  "     27,917,510  k. 


MONTHS. 

PASSEN- 
GERS. 

PASSENGER 
RECEIPTS. 

FREIGHT. 

FREIGHT 
RECEIPTS. 

TOTAL 
RECEIPTS. 

Tons. 

Kilos. 

1894. 

January    . 

15,255 
14,900 

29,545 
16,527 
18,229 

20,543 
I9,47i 
18,218 
18,653 
17,814 
16,300 
20,994 

$   16,146   67 
14,925    48 
21,348    92 
17,195    89 

14,864  75 

15,173  98 
14,023  23 

14,602  85 
15,354  80 
14,954  13 
14,257  08 
18,776  23 

3,187 

3,060 

3,744 
4,010 
4,322 
3,942 
3,828 
3,515 
3,189 
2,973 
2,453 
2,682 

880 
140 
290 
380 
880 
590 
no 
420 
740 
5io 
800 
690 

$  20,083  75 
22,616  16 

25,224  36 

25,184  73 
21,406  14 
23,279  97 
20,637  28 
17,531  15 
16,285  34 
19,374  02 
17,145   58 
17,900  02 

$  39,725  34 
40,935  29 
50,001   ii 
45,742  46 
39,720  i  8 
42,037  56 
38,168  24 
35,709  56 
35,156  99 
38,068  95 
34,691  02 
40,519  83 

ICtU'tMJ     .    .    . 

February  .... 
March 

April  

May 

July    . 

August  

September.  .  . 
October  
November  .  .  . 
December  .  .  . 

Total  

226,449 

$191,624  01 

40,911 

430 

$246,668  50 

$480,476  53 

201 


earnings  of  the  Company  during  the  years  from  1890  to  1895,  taken 
from  data  furnished  by  the  Company  to  the  Department  of  Communi- 
cations of  Mexico. 


MEXICAN    SOUTHERN. 


YEARS. 

PASSEN- 
GERS. 

PASSENGER 
RECEIPTS. 

MERCHANDISE. 

OTHER 
RECEIPTS. 

TOTAL 
RECEIPTS. 

Tons. 

Kilos. 

1890  

1801..  . 

76,788 
104,296 
143,037 
225,447 
218,213 

$74,259  78 
109,011  90 

153,233  oi 
191,624  oi 
196,462  34 

11,506 

26,977 
27,921 
40,911 
36,5H 

820 
490 
5io 
430 

210 

$  59,427  26 
152,859  II 

246,862  75 
246,668  50 
287,426  59 

$    133,687  04 

261,871  oi 

400,095  76 
438,292  51 

483,888  93 

1802  

l8oq 

l8Q4  .. 

ISO*?... 

Total  

767,781 

$724,591  04 

143,828 

460 

$993,244  21 

$1,717,835  25 

Other  Railroads.  The  following  statement  shows  the  traffic  and 
earnings  of  the  Mexican,  Interoceanic,  Sonora,  and  minor  railroads  in 
Mexico,  taken  from  the  Anuario  Estadistico  de  la  Republica  Mexicana 
of  1895,  compiled  from  data  furnished  by  the  respective  companies  to 
the  Department  of  Communications  of  the  Mexican  Government. 

MEXICAN   RAILROAD. 


VI?  A  T?  C 

PASSEN- 

PASSENGER 

MERCHANDISE. 

OTHER 

TOTAL 

I  ijAiva. 

GERS. 

RECEIPTS. 

Tons. 

Kilos. 

RECEIPTS. 

RECEIPTS. 

1873- 

476,287 

$   482,565  39 

150,473 

812 

$  1,348,344  49 

$  1,830,909  88 

1874. 

459,601 

467,816  73 

121,935 

229 

1,887,028  76 

2,354,845  49 

1875- 

267,776 

476,546  91 

136,632 

65 

1,970,008  55 

2,446,555  46 

1876. 

245,675 

380,018  73 

132,216 

831 

1,841,717  53 

2,221,736  26 

1877. 

300,591 

533,520  58 

158,537 

56 

2,255,466  03 

2,788,986  61 

1878. 

279,893 

518,318  74 

169,287 

672 

2,440,513  39 

2,958,832  13 

1879. 

293,179 

517,711  92 

190,908 

638 

2,823,013  02 

3,340,724  94 

1880. 

323,088 

548,941  72 

219,930 

162 

3,242,343  ii 

3,791,284  83 

1881. 

331,749 

587,135  85 

278,942 

924 

4,433,648  24 

5,020,784  09 

1882. 

385,621 

696,235  87 

333,979 

556 

5,396,090  55 

6,092,326  42 

1883. 

409,098 

710,636  88 

373,389 

634 

5,115,639  84 

5,826,276  72 

1884. 

389,421 

655,458  83 

236,030 

480 

3,191,916  10 

3,847,374  93 

1885. 

377,512 

603,886  ii 

246,169 

949 

2,812,764  22 

3,416,650  33 

1886. 

367,260 

604,278  41 

266,432 

333 

2,714,082  96 

3,318,361  37 

1887. 

380,153 

655,312  23 

301,185 

300 

3,141,903  40 

3,797,215  63 

1888. 

393,679 

694,138  08 

351,070 

36 

3,352,439  37 

4,046,577  45 

1889. 

444,  149 

765,118  71 

391,627 

274 

3,512,566  64 

4,277,685  35 

1890. 

502,139 

701,916  oo 

443,794 

979 

3,565,083  50 

4,266,999  50 

1891. 

620,988 

832,185  94 

464,123 

453 

3,239,764  53 

4,071,950  47 

1892. 

628,591 

797,878  35 

408,709 

417 

2,286,389  71 

3,084,268  06 

1893. 

629,892 

768,616  68 

387,400 

277 

2,140,061  75 

2,908,678  43 

1894. 

717,076 

857,525  26 

433,637 

485 

2,063,486  26 

2,921,011  52 

1895. 

772,139 

993,016  63 

453,294 

579 

2,087,844  19 

3,080,860  82 

Total. 

9,995,557 

$14,848,780  55 

6,649,709 

141 

$66,862,116  14 

$81,710,896  69 

2O2 


Statistical  IRotes  on 


INTEROCEANIC    RAILWAY. 


YEARS. 

PASSEN- 
GERS. 

PASSENGER 
RECEIPTS. 

MERCHANDISE. 

OTHER 
RECEIPTS. 

TOTAL 
RECEIPTS. 

Tons. 

Kilos. 

l88o      .  .  . 

228,053 
367,116 
411,090 
4O6,Ol6 
634,306 
606,510 
569,421 
621,295 
673,169 
596,812 
657,616 
795,625 

799,487 
879,005 
88l,8lO 
906,550 

$65,277   9I 
105,083   31 
111,029   25 
223,049   58 
247,528   50 
240,233   70 
224,815    ig 
239,812  48 

254,809  77 
271,562  69 
383,107  10 
456,685  80 
466,799  31 
486,075  54 

491,914   20 
491,388   67 

n,43i 
49,942 
53,382 
56,822 

131,385 
167,970 
148,001 

174,194 
200,386 
190,902 
288,836 
282,311 
367,762 

383,503 
440,648 

464,975 

145 

548 
385 

222 

319 
265 
913 
156 
400 
92O 
358 
491 
660 
000 
000 

ooo 

0    36,515  46 

159,535   64 
258,221    05 
356,906  46 
407,593   64 

436,345  10 

482,003    l8 
570,033   20 
658,063    22 
710,848    78 

,153,999    13 
,176,562   22 

,376,488   38 

,705,859  74 
,912,192  58 
,771,268  92 

$    101,793  37 
264,618  95 
369,250  30 
579,956  04 
655,122  14 
676,578  80 
706,818  37 
809,845  68 
912,872  99 
982,411  47 
i,537,io6  23 
1,633,248  02 
1,843,287  69 
2,191,935  28 
2,404,106  78 
2,262,657  59 

1881 

1882 

1883  
1884  
1885 

x886  

1887  
1888  
1880 

1890  
1801 

1802 

1803.  . 

AWV/J-    • 

i  Sod 

*°y^  

i8o5 

Total  .  . 

10,033,881 

4,759,173  oo 

3,412,455 

782 

13,172,436  70 

17,931,609  70 

SONORA  RAILWAY. 


1881  

$  II,3O3  29 

$  17,254  95 

$  28,558  24 

1882 

68  410  83 

157,604  60 

226  IO5  43 

188-?  . 

^,464 

00,461   3^ 

24.202 

7QI 

119,347  56 

2l8,8o8  89 

1884  

36,428 

87,793  47 

21,115 

382 

108,531  43 

196,324  90 

1885 

47  271 

101  918  90 

2Q  Q27 

682 

103  180  80 

2Q5  IO8  7Q 

1886  .  .  . 

4^,208 

08.613  06 

33  635 

621 

191,981  24 

200,504  30 

1887... 

38,180 

87,098  20 

34,66O 

670 

193,981  40 

281,079  60 

1888 

38  335 

84.  14.3  57 

•37  621 

60 

204  146  63 

288  290  20 

1880 

4/r  fini 

1  04  367  85 

43,321 

710 

230,607  67 

344  065  52 

iu"V  

1800... 

48,196 

97,662  48 

46,147 

870 

259,360  01 

357,022  49 

IQQI... 

56,565 

112,919  18 

53,047 

663 

332,938  65 

445,857  83 

1892 

54  O2I 

IIQ  784  37 

58  86? 

aCQ 

363,128  QI 

482  QI3  28 

iSo-l 

52,678 

126,6^7  56 

63,687 

05^ 

393,319  17 

510,076  73 

J.VVJJ..  .  . 

1805  .. 

62,715 

141,744  OQ 

60,982 

389 

469,950  09 

611,694  18 

Total.  .  . 

558,451 

1,341,878  18 

5I7,H7 

252 

3,244,522  20 

4,586,400  38 

HIDALGO  AND  NORTHEASTERN  RAILWAY. 


1881  
1882  .... 

39,759 
30,940 

37,198 
35,209 
51,823 
44,666 
53,958 
55,055 
90,241 
"3,605 
127,972 
148,540 
168,422 

214,837 
206,194 

$   9,897  17 

12,270  02 

25,715  04 

32,648  22 
32,295  08 
36,692  27 

43,582  66 
45,805  05 
90,194  56 
106,397  87 
120,128  18 
141,360  09 
161,908  45 
178,477  10 
181,043  96 

2,264 
7,624 
17,852 
34,958 
40,960 
5i,76o 

65,524 
77,203 

100,110 

137,467 
176,432 

186,041 

178,174 

200,685 
164,176 

ooo 

000 

283 

222 

794 
395 
057 
173 
733 
20  1 
664 
471 
047 
687 
ooo 

$  1,659  36 

10,442  30 
33,220  80 
54,955  16 
76,710  43 
117,603  55 

145,702  22 

161,773  18 
262,081  27 
328,124  49 
404,735  74 
422,052  91 
468,566  69 
643,700  93 
616,641  61 

$   n,556  53 
22,712  32 

58,933  84 
87,603  38 
109,005  51 
154,295  82 
189,284  88 
207,578  23 
352,275  83 
434,522  36 
524,863  92 
563,413  oo 
630,475  14 
822,178  03 
797,685  57 

1883  

1884... 

1885  

1886.,  

1887  
1888 

1889  
1890  
1801 

1802. 

1893  
1804 

1805.. 

Total... 

1,418,419 

$1,218,415  72 

1,441,234 

727 

$3,747,970  64 

$4,966,384  36 

203 


ME*RIDA  AND  PROGRESO  RAILWAY. 


YEARS. 

PASSEN- 
GERS. 

PASSENGER 
RECEIPTS. 

MERCHANDISE. 

OTHER 
RECEIPTS. 

TOTAL 
RECEIPTS. 

Tons. 

Kilos. 

1881  
1882  

56,085 
84,016 
83,231 
87,159 
64,173 
77,139 
85,044 
109,997 

158,534 
162,701 
129,989 
IO8,IJ9 
91,291 
79,653 

$  28,639  50 
37,642  38 
36,239  83 

37,940  54 

29,078  41 

33,353  16 
22,844  42 
29,812  76 
56,763  81 
55,566  97 
46,155  85 
36,528  45 
39,276  08 
33,387  18 
38,228  81 

$   53,236  oo 
75,242  88 

108,248  80 

139,299  59 
120,389  13 
78,168  66 
52,995  68 
64,291  88 

97,017  37 
89,139  81 
67,460  18 

83,593  75 
96,230  47 
68,513  05 
97,850  38 

$   81,875  50 
112,885  26 
144,488  63 
177,240  13 

149,467  54 
111,521  82 
75,840  10 

94,104  64 

153,781  18 

144,706  78 

113,616  03 

120,132  20 

135,506  55 
101,900  23 
136,079  19 

41,934 
59,859 
95,962 

79,611 

58,239 
46,055 
30,872 
44,619 

53,949 
34,486 
28,656 
34,406 
38,659 

297 

715 
902 

737 
254 
7H 
512 

200 

818 

000 

499 
476 
401 

1883  
1884  

1885 

1886  

1887 

1888  

1889  

1800 

1891  

1802... 

1803 

1804... 

i8o«? 

Total... 

1,377,131 

$561,458  15 

647,313 

525 

$1,291,677  63 

$1,853,135  78 

TEHUACAN  AND  ESPERANZA  RAILWAY. 


1884 

18  ^4^ 

$11  427  64 

6  O43 

813 

$OO  Q2I  87 

$44  34Q  ^1 

1885  
1886  
188? 

15,049 
12,942 

14  848 

10,077  20 

9,111  04 
10  080  15 

5,857 

6,603 

7  660 

257 
705 

7  -SO 

31,905  66 
38,271  80 

47  437  77 

41,982  86 

47,382  84 

C7  cj7  02 

1888  
1889 

17,116 

IQ  38^ 

15.376  57 
20  673  oo 

8,764 
QgeS 

045 
lf)O 

54,500  93 
6  1  564  09 

69,877  50 
82  237  OO 

1800. 

20  462 

l8  4<Q  06 

16  625 

87O 

ne  'JAA  "17 

Q4  2O4  33 

1891  
1892 

17,426 

15  IO2 

II,O87  O6 
8  7Q2  1% 

I4,38l 
4I7O 

340 

e  jo 

68,684  08 
44  6O2  OQ 

79,771  14 
ea  an/I  A  A 

1803 

1  6  006 

9  411  *il 

*  663 

C-7O 

•17  QQ7  AC. 

47  4O8  06 

i8oc 

IQ  QO5 

IO  Q4I  8  I 

4  062 

coo 

l8  724  QO 

29  666  80 

Total... 

186,674 

$135,438  29 

89,709 

660 

$512,355  10 

$647,793  39 

MERIDA  AND  PETO  RAILWAY. 


1881  

22,8*52 

$3.QI3  60 

$4^O  6O 

$4,344  2Q 

1882 

••)  v  j^ 

81,102 

-?,V  J   V 
12  2O3  <?8 

f  j^f  v^ 

2  6^7  41 

*T,«?4T4T   *V 

14  Q3O  OQ 

1883  

88,920 

**t*VJ  3° 

14,422  31 

5,654 

"5 

~1*SJ/   T"1- 

4,833  23 

-t-f»yjv'  VV 

I9,255  54 

1884  

81,566 

I7,8l8  29 

11,063 

915 

11,588  49 

29,406  78 

1885  

64,118 

16,795  70 

16,919 

464 

20,222  10 

37,017  80 

1886  

62,983 

16,728  82 

17,368 

079 

21,710  91 

38,439  73 

1887  

62,763 

15,943  55 

15,827 

969 

26,619  71 

42,563  26 

1888  

92,773 

22,146  61 

20,231 

7M 

37,013  76 

59,160  37 

1889  

99,761 

25,351  70 

25,397 

822 

52,553  95 

77,905  65 

1890  

126,978 

24,514  70 

30,024 

477 

69,390  02 

93,904  72 

1891  

134,438 

55,007  97 

27,106 

666 

85,602  24 

140,610  21 

1892  

129,163 

59,742  62 

28,266 

475 

118,214  20 

177,956  82 

1893  

163,852 

71,970  64 

36,202 

439 

128,115  61 

200,086  25 

1894  

157,311 

70,898  03 

32,260 

765 

121,547  79 

192,445  82 

1895  

140,193 

67,134  69 

37,853 

723 

118,179  ii 

185,313  80 

Total... 

1,508,773 

$494,682  90 

304,177 

623 

$818,659  13 

$1,313,342  03 

204 


Statistical  IRotes  on  /IDejico. 


SINALOA  AND  DURANGO  (ALTATA  TO  CULIACAN)  RAILWAY. 


YEARS. 

PASSEN- 
GERS. 

PASSENGER 
RECEIPTS. 

FREIGHT. 

MISCELLA- 
NEOUS 
RECEIPTS. 

TOTAL 
RECEIPTS. 

Tons. 

Kilos. 

1882  
l88l. 

2,727 
12,251 
21,776 
I5,8l6 
23,171 
25,487 
27,904 
21,850 
42,987 
54,678 
39,494 
56,503 
38,451 
37,627 

$      3,712  04 

7,816  94 

8,584  57 
8,786  88 
10,68  1  46 
10,705  56 
",459  15 
9,318  46 

14,871  77 
19,170  23 

14,837  39 
14,152  07 
14,040  41 
15,768  25 

1,864 

3,913 
5,962 

4,953 
4,3i6 
5,962 
6,736 
6,535 
4,722 
7,442 
io,37i 
12,893 
12,093 
8,538 

589 
457 
325 
364 
116 

325 
532 
236 

749 
886 
701 
822 
568 
024 

$      5,155   65 

18,717  39 
25,019  62 
19,719  92 
20,880  39 
16,661  71 
23,650  34 

25,537  79 
18,911  41 

25,38i  35 
28,131  17 

35,205    12 
38,393    29 

29,39°  59 

$      8,867   69 

26,534  33 

33,604    19 
28,506   80 
3I,56l    85 
27,367    27 

35,109  49 
34,856  25 
33,783  18 
44,551  58 
42,968  56 
49,357  19 
52,433  70 
45,158  84 

1884  
1885 

1886    .... 

1887..... 
1888  
l88o    . 

1890  
1891  
1892  
I8Q1 

1804  .  . 

1805 

Total.  .  . 

420,722 

$163,905  18 

96,306 

694 

$330,755  74 

$494,660  92 

MtfRIDA  AND  CAMPECHE  RAILWAY. 


1883  .  . 

22  ,Q44 

$3  586  10 

4.62 

169 

SI.I2O   32 

$   4  706  42 

1884 

Q7  2Q5 

13  l6l  5Q 

3Q52 

565 

e  2O3  67 

18  365  26 

188* 

76  135 

12  535  04 

7  7Q4. 

C7O 

Q  3O6  ^I 

21  84.2  25 

1886  
1887  

1888  .... 

65,274 
68,883 
86  32Q 

10,779  44 
",793  63 

22  172  II 

6,265 

8,106 

II  514. 

722 
813 

018 

9,579  90 
13,263  22 
21  106  70 

20,359  34 
25,056  85 

4.3  278  8l 

1889  

1890  
1891  
1802  . 

ww,j«y 

58,383 
75,496 
96,994 

87  054. 

17,017  46 
28,939  04 
35,303  04 
33  508  II 

12,534 
6,779 
17,328 

17  363 

035 

458 
478 

5IO 

28,300  44 
19,057  69 
36,035  70 
3Q  33O  26 

45,317  90 

47,996  73 
71,338  74 
72.Q28  37 

1893  

1804.  .  . 

124,983 

56,034  03 

2i,775 

IOI 

53,390  97 

109,425  oo 

l8o5  . 

IOQ  -340 

66  174.  14. 

24.  6QQ 

277 

72  Q23  31 

1  30  OQ7  45 

Total... 

I,OOO,OI9 

$311,094  63 

138,575 

7l6 

$308,618  49 

$  619,713  12 

ME*RIDA  AND  VALLADOLID  RAILWAY. 


1883.. 

18,123 

$2  57O  17 

$   609  18 

$3,179  35 

1884  

1885  
1886  
1887  .. 

75,541 
100,015 
132,210 

176  5OI 

12,595  63 
18,548  61 
25,798  73 

32  2Q8  87 

4,248 
6,040 
25,l8l 
4.1  4.Q6 

788 

957 
498 

4.7Q 

5,287  96 
8,487  63 
33,276  45 
58  006  41 

17,883  59 
27,036  24 
59,075  18 
no  3Q5  28 

1888  ..  . 

183  073 

37  Q57  4.5 

35  Q75 

2O7 

65,864  26 

IO3,82I  71 

1889 

280  348 

58  69!  7O 

54  2O6 

189 

lie  Q32  74 

173  724.  4.4. 

1800  . 

2Q5  O34. 

63  4.85  18 

5O  78l 

662 

06  611  23 

160  096  41 

;;"  

loQI  .... 

264.  78l 

60  366  76 

4.7  064 

535 

08,212  31 

158,579  07 

1892  
1893  
l8o4.  .  . 

254,344 
244,040 

6i,573  70 
79,223  48 

46,124 
50,633 

159 

534 

134,209  85 

139,384  68 

195,783  55 
218,608  16 

UV*  
1895  

199,670 

72,828  22 

62,342 

134 

165,983  26 

238,811  48 

Total.  .  . 

2,224,580 

$525,938  50 

424,095 

142 

$921,055  96 

$1,446,994  46 

205 


TLALMANALCO  RAILWAY. 


YEARS. 

PASSEN- 
GERS. 

PASSENGER 
RECEIPTS. 

FREIGHT. 

MISCELLA- 
NEOUS 
RECEIPTS. 

TOTAL 
RECEIPTS. 

Tons. 

Kilos. 

l88l 

39,688 
40,211 
41,226 

4i,905 
47,808 
46,150 
49,866 

55,345 
61,236 
62,618 
60,835 

$  4,022  44 

4,596   80 

4,577  43 
4,621  28 
5,098  09 
5,076  97 
5,536  16 

6,654    20 

6,765  86 
7,225  65 
6,492  30 

I0,8l3 
9,641 
7,466 

6,845 
8,083 
10,722 
13,710 
24,988 
15,469 
12,303 
18,572 

000 
000 

713 

349 
538 

122 
170 

131 
050 
O2O 
715 

$      5,564  91 

7,276  95 

6,830  06 
6,360  51 
6,788  75 
9,164  56 
",566  53 
12,019  62 
12,684  68 
9,853  83 
15,430  59 

$    9,587  35 
",873  75 
11,407  49 
10,981  79 
11,886  84 

14,241  53 
17,102  69 
18,673  82 
19,450  54 
17,079  48 
21,922  89 

1884. 

iS8n 

1886   .... 

1887  
1888 

1880   . 

1890  
1801 

1802  . 

1893  

1805  .  . 

71,777 

7,358  10 

13,824 

250 

12,284  66 

19,642  76 

Total.  .  . 

618,665 

$68,025  28 

152,439 

058 

$115,825  65 

$183,850  93 

SAN  JUAN  BAUTISTA  AND  CARRIZAL  PASSENGER  RAILWAY. 


1888  

QQ,  5O4 

$  5,123  13 

$c  123  ia 

1880 

56  88O 

4  406  10 

4  406  10 

1890  
1891  
1892  
1893  

110,731 
105,251 
152,606 
150,243 

6,733  92 
7,923  34 
9,462  23 
9,965  56 

1,022 
922 
1,803 
2,052 

000 
000 
000 
000 

$1,022  00 

922  79 
1,442  28 
1,842  70 

7,756  52 
8,846  13 
10,904  51 
1  1,  808  26 

1895  

167,994 

I2,OO3  21 

3,455 

454 

3,131  oo 

15,134  21 

Total... 

843,209 

$55,6i7  49 

9,254 

454 

$8,361  37 

$63,978  86 

SAN  ANDRE'S  AND  CHALCHICOMULA  RAILWAY. 


1882  
1883  
1884  
1885  

1886. 

6,851 

15,053 
14,218 
10,928 

Q  QQ4 

$  i,9°5  53 
4,002  51 
3,683  23 
2,834  42 

2  ZQG.  C8 

1,658 
4,802 
4,485 
4,723 

4.O7Q 

614 
280 
960 

310 

2Q4 

$  2,847  76 
9,548  51 
11,681  15 
4,805  87 
4,980  84 

1  4,753  29 

13,551  02 

15,364  38 
7,640  29 
7,  «?76  42 

1887  
1888  
1889.  ... 
1890  

1891  

1892  
1893  
1894  

Tgoe 

9,794 
10,173 
12,727 
13,010 
12,711 
12,223 
12,239 
13,998 

TO  AS.A 

2,428  25 
2,489  80 
3,137  07 
3,163  15 

3,079  10 

6,327  21 

3,061  75 
3,398  65 
3  <ij.ii  3^ 

5,835 
8,324 
5,832 
4,385 
6,258 
7,980 
10,011 

7,781 

696 

735 
417 
480 

307 
430 
250 
980 

6,850  94 
9,592  88 
7,100  57 
6,225  35 
8,140  76 
9,376  67 
n,474  05 
9,266  42 
10  383  oo 

9,279  19 
12,082  68 
10,237  64 
9,388  50 
11,219  86 
15,703  88 
14,535  80 
12,665  °7 
13  827  3<? 

Total.. 

167,373 

$45,550  60 

76,159 

753 

$112,274  77 

$157,825  37 

2O6 


Statistical  IRotes  on 


ORIZABA     AND    INGENIO    RAILWAY. 


YEARS. 

PASSEN- 
GERS. 

PASSENGER 
RECEIPTS. 

FREIGHT. 

MISCELLA- 
NEOUS 
RECEIPTS. 

TOTAL 
RECEIPTS. 

Tons, 

Kilos. 

1882  

38,636 
91,949 
94,323 
34,921 

86,047 

40,364 

41,945 
46,640 
106,773 

103,011 

99,553 
104,030 
104,019 
132,650 

$    4,473  30 
10,645  94 
10,920  74 

4,365    12 

9,962  57 
4,673  38 
4,800  oo 
5,400  oo 

12,362    20 

12,532  10 

13,303   20 
13,900   50 

13,990  77 
17,438  04 

$     

$    4,473  3<> 
10,843  58 

11,221    56 
4,728   22 

10,312  75 
4,774  50 
4,952  oo 

5,540  00 
12,782    20 

13,042  10 

14,031    56 
14,300  50 

I4,5i8  77 
17,999  04 

1883.. 

237 

360 
435 
384 

121 
182 

168 
504 
612 
750 

168 
972 
720 
813 
344 
400 
ooo 

000 
000 

ooo 

197   64 
300   82 

363  10 
350  18 

IOI    12 

152  oo 
140  oo 
420  oo 
510  oo 
728  36 
400  oo 
528  oo 
561  oo 

l88d 

188*.. 

1886  
1887 

1888  

1880.  . 

1800 

1801  .  . 

i<jy*  
1802.  . 

ISO'S.  . 

1804. 

704 
748 

000 

ooo 

l8Qe 

Total.. 

1,124,861 

$138,767  86 

5,208 

417 

$4,752    22 

$143,520  o& 

SANTA    ANA    AND    TLAXCALA    RAILWAY. 


188-; 

58  068 

$   2  860  2O 

&    4Q4  -J8 

<$    0  -2  £4.  C8 

1884. 

117,5  60 

8.<8o  60 

I  4Q4.  14 

IO.O74  74 

1885  

174,204 

12,714  08 

1,483  oo 

I4.IQ7  08 

1886 

ie6  676 

6  7ii  14. 

I  482  17 

8  21^  m 

1887 

117  518 

8  4.63  8* 

I  171  21? 

9817  10 

1888  

120,910 

Q.I7Q  28 

1,  6*51  O2 

10,830  30 

1880.  . 

110,574 

8,204  08 

1,475  20 

9,770  18 

1890 

14^  26^ 

8  108  oo 

i  4.60  82 

9  867  82 

1801  . 

66  716 

Q  OO8  3O 

1.760  28 

10,867  58- 

*<»¥*  . 
1892  

1893  
l8Q4. 

55,768 
59,127 

7,011  74 
7,326  40 

750 
3,829 

000 

003 

1,280  03 
2,434  13 

8,291  77 
9,76o  53 

1895  

71,843 

8,670  35 

2,038 

440 

2,344  38 

11,014  73. 

Total.. 

1,254,227 

$  97,331  82 

6,617 

443 

$18,751  oo 

$116,082  82 

CARDENAS    AND    RIO    GRIJALVA    RAILWAY. 


1886..  . 

$   263  01 

$   526  oo 

$  789  01 

1887 

4OI  J.3 

722  57 

1,124  oo 

1888 

qOO  O7 

781  n 

1,090  20 

1880 

216  72 

8?q  60 

1,056  41 

1800.  . 

380  oo 

839  69 

1,219  69 

1801 

480  oo 

Q3Q  60 

1,419  69 

1802 

*"y*  

1884 

i8on 

Total  . 

2  O^O  23 

$4,648  77 

$6,699  oo 

207 


TOLUCA    AND  SAN    JUAN   DE    LAS    HUERTAS    RAILWAY 


YEARS. 

PASSEN- 
GERS. 

PASSENGER 
RECEIPTS. 

FREIGHT. 

MISCELLA- 
NEOUS 
RECEIPTS. 

TOTAL 
RECEIPTS. 

Tons. 

Kilos. 

1885  
1886      .  .  . 

75,052 

97,535 
94,874 
93,512 
134,193 
178,072 

156,917 
107,122 
176,241 
121,949 
204,591 

$    7,016  39 
9,078  95 
8,788  61 
8,475  83 
12,677  97 
16,264  75 
15,293  69 
13,777  47 
16,340  90 
15,328  76 
18,210  13 

$   1,138    19 

5,20i  59 
6,755  49 
4,729  99 
8,087  03 
12,156  67 
11,082  76 
11,702  56 
11,690  24 
11,536  10 
10,136  78 

$      8,154   58 

14,280  54 
15,544  10 
13,205  82 
20,765  oo 
28,421  42 
26,376  45 
25,480  03 
28,031  14 
26,864  86 
28,346  91 

6,133 
9,361 
7,251 

13,483 
18,595 
13,998 

13,924 

14,128 

13,778 
13,860 

ooo 

000 

750 
088 

861 
r85 
530 
510 
920 
796 

1887  
1888  
l88o 

1890 

189! 

l8Q2 

1801.  . 

1804  

1805    . 

Total.  . 

1,440,058 

$141,253  45 

124,515 

640 

$94,217  40 

$235,470  85 

VANEGAS,    CEDRAL,   MATEHUALA,   AND    RIO    VERDE     RAILWAY. 


1889 

$4.40      6O 

28 

1:4.0 

$•5-56     24 

$784.    Q1 

1800    . 

10,848 

5,761  16 

i  840 

66  1 

15  4Q2    27 

21  255   4*} 

1891 

q6  74.2 

12  78^    (X 

5Q1Q 

568 

6l   511   41 

74  2Q6  48 

1892  

1893  
1894  

l8Q5 

44,502 
46,083 
35,213 

16,083  ii 
16,030  02 

13,798  53 

94,112 
83,H5 
"3,384 

500 

000 

ooo 

124,565    69 

114,505  49 
185,649  51 

140,648   8O 

130,535    51 
199,448  04 

Total.. 

173,388 

$64,907  56 

298,420 

269 

$502,061  63 

$566,969    19 

MERIDA    AND    IZAMAL    RAILWAY. 


1887  
1888  
1889  

1890 

42,812 
78,102 
106  089 
106  883 

$  7,280  38 
18,981  70 
38,330  34 

C4  4.62  IO 

2,729 

7,87i 
n,633 
10  146 

000 

541 

376 

^74 

$  3,954  64 
17,656  81 
28,069  91 

2Q  QQ5  11 

$  11,235  02 
36,638  51 
66,400  25 
84  457  41 

1801 

80  042 

41  8qi  51 

I-j  771; 

771 

44  708  41 

86  680  04 

juy*  
1892  

1893  
1804 

94,634 
96,458 

49,729  03 
45,684  12 
C2  £.64.  78 

18,094 
21,476 

768 
676 

65,565  47 
65,714  14 
61  115  45 

115,294  50 
111,398  26 
III  QOO  21 

1805.  . 

49,735  I2 

6l,2q5  40 

113,030  61 

Total  .  . 

605,020 

$358,659  08 

85,727 

5o6 

$380,385  67 

$739,044  75 

SAN  MARCOS  AND  NAUTLA  RAILWAY. 


1891  

4,582 

$  3,181  70 

5,307 

750 

$   5,968  12 

$  9,149  82 

1892  

10,894 

5,968  34 

12,000 

570 

17,835  93 

23,804  27 

1893  

14,136 

7,339  14 

19,576 

ooo 

27,008  47 

34,347  61 

1804  .  . 

15  481 

7  Ql8  6l 

2Q  5IQ  Q7 

17  4l8  60 

1895  

17,309 

8,195  77 

24,452 

440 

27,603  55 

35,799  32 

Total.  .  . 

62,402 

$32,603  58 

61,336 

760 

$107,936  04 

$140,539  62 

208 


Statistical  Botes  on  /iDejico, 


MONTEREY    AND    GULF    RAILWAY. 


YEARS. 

PASSEN- 
GERS. 

PASSENGER 
RECEIPTS. 

FREIGHT. 

MISCELLA- 
NEOUS 
RECEIPTS. 

TOTAL 
RECEIPTS. 

Tons. 

Kilos. 

l88o... 

16,714 
57,096 
94,052 
99,802 
107,378 

$   17,144  65 
70,185   08 
II2,9IO  64 

119,390  74 
141,093  86 

4,197 
168,204 
174,829 

193,437 
238,442 

432 
600 
706 
800 

000 

$       13,440   52 

791,398  47 
876,563  75 
664,072  42 
820,433  06 

$  30,585  17 
861,583  55 
989,474  39 
783,463  16 
961,526  92 

l8oo 

iuy"  
1801  

1802  

1893  
1804... 

l8o5 

127,900 

150,005  75 

329,059 

008 

1,162,009  39 

1,312,015  14 

Total.  . 

502,942 

$610,730  72 

1,108,170 

546 

$4,327,917  61 

$4,938,648  33 

CORDOVA    AND    TUXTEPEC    RAILWAY. 


1889 

26  537 

$A  8l<  27 

$1  285  13 

$  6,100  40 

1800  . 

4Q  142 

8  QI7  O6 

2.37Q  Q7 

11,297  03 

x  "  V"  

1891  

21,  542 

I4.OOQ  84 

5,097  98 

19,107  82 

1892 

no  885 

12  767  *I 

2  23^ 

C7i 

5,111  IQ 

17,878  70 

1803  . 

46  086 

17  433  62 

3,7^O 

424 

0,828  04 

27,262  56 

1804 

1805 

Total.. 

185,192 

$57,943  30 

5,965 

995 

$23,703  21 

$81,646  51 

MARAVATfO    AND    CUERNAVACA    RAILWAY. 


1890 

a  466 

&  q  «j8o  66 

$•5  -372  IO 

$  6,761  76 

1801  . 

6  IQO 

6  283  Q4 

l6,74I  42 

23,025  36 

1802  . 

"'J-Vvy 

Q  081 

8,O47  76 

3O,l6o  42 

38,208  18 

1803... 

12.867 

0.418  26 

28,201  99 

37,620  25 

180.1 

1C  ia8 

ii  235  58 

32.  2^8  33 

43,473  91 

180"?  .  . 

I  "3  064 

II  ^64  72 

39,714  80 

51,079  52 

Total.  . 

60  706 

iS>4Q  7^0  Q2 

$1  50,429  06 

$200,168  98 

SALAMANCA    AND    SANTIAGO    VALLEY    RAILWAY. 


1889  

4,709 

$  1,486  51 

132 

270 

$   304  26 

$  1,790  77 

1890  

18,836 

5,946  04 

529 

080 

1,217  04 

7,163  08 

1891  

25,432 

8,554  ii 

3,324 

430 

7,237  67 

15,79!  78 

1802... 

21  Q23 

8  020  50 

2.815 

94O 

5,325  03 

13,345  62 

1803 

22  674. 

77  I  Q  44 

3  38O 

060 

8,910  74 

16,630  18 

1804... 

27  406 

8  74O  QO 

4  142 

690 

9,584  17 

18,325  07 

1805  

3O.OQ4 

10,376  66 

7,799 

050 

13,969  73 

24,346  39 

Total.. 

151,164 

$50,844  25 

22,123 

520 

$46,548  64 

$97,392  89 

•(Railways, 


209 


MONTE    ALTO    RAILWAY. 


YEARS. 

1892  
180-7 

PASSEN- 
GERS. 

PASSENGER 
RECEIPTS. 

FREIGHT 

MISCELLA- 
NEOUS 
RECEIPTS. 

TOTAL 
RECEIPTS. 

Tons. 

Kilos. 

3I,O8O 
30,888 
31,913 
39,041 

$  2,652   89 
3,260  28 
3,318    14 
4,005    14 

4,006 

6,135 

6,221 
5,430 

000 

ooo 

000 
000 

$1,330   13 
1,965    72 

2,002  79 

1,410   85 

$   3,983   02 

5,226  oo 
5,320  93 
5,415  99 

l8Q4 

l8qs... 

Total.  . 

132,922 

$13,236  45 

21,792 

000 

$6,709  49 

$19,945  94 

VALLEY    OF    MEXICO    RAILWAY. 


l8qi... 

1,423,652 

$  99,615  09 

9,108 

ooo 

$  5,912  38 

$105,527  41 

1802 

i  63q  873 

Iiq,37q  76 

21,154 

ooo 

I2.3IO  35 

131  6QO  17 

180-?... 

1,6^7*135 

IIO,l6o  6O 

24,361 

ooo 

21,497  48 

131,658  08 

1804  

l8q«5  .  . 

Total.. 

4,700,660 

$329,155  45 

54,623 

000 

$39,720  21 

$368,875  66 

PUEBLA    INDUSTRIAL    RAILWAY. 


1801..  . 

15  i  380 

$23  234  66 

$  i  308  oo 

$24.  632  66 

1802  

125,766 

20,052  34 

I  23Q  OO 

21  2QI  34. 

1803 

155  112 

24.  O§2  55 

i  380  oo 

25  462  55 

1894... 

I9O  480 

31  62O  62 

3  I4.Q  37 

34  760  QO 

1805 

226  275 

36  264  oo 

14  25O 

OOO 

II  122  ^5 

47  ^86  "35 

Total.. 

849,013 

$135,254  17 

14,250 

000 

$18,288  72 

$153,542  89 

MEXICAN    NORTHERN    RAILWAY. 


i8qi... 

4,870 

$14,802  61 

94  726 

ooo 

$  740,122  98 

$  754,92s  SO 

1802  . 

4  3OQ 

14  802  61 

m?8i 

825 

I  337  8*3  47 

I  352  656  08 

1803  .. 

4  088 

13  087  oo 

176  801 

QI3 

1*334  ^24  47 

I  -147  6l2  37 

1894  

1895  

4,274 

13,420  18 

151,744 

929 

1,149,069  15 

1,162,489  33 

Total.. 

17,601 

$56,113  30 

601,054 

667 

$4,561,570  07 

$4,617,683  37 

MEXICO    CUERNAVACA    AND    PACfFICO    RAILWAY. 


1805.  . 

17  209 

&IO  214  84 

84  4^4 

OOO 

$130  662  86 

iftl4O  877  7O 

210 


Statistical  IRotes  on 


FEDERAL    DISTRICT    TRAMWAYS. 


YEARS. 

PASSENGERS. 

PASSENGER 
RECEIPTS. 

FREIGHT. 

MISCELLA- 
NEOUS 
RECEIPTS. 

TOTAL 
RECEIPTS. 

Tons. 

Kilos. 

1873. 
1874. 

1875. 
1876. 

1877. 
1878. 

1879- 
I880. 

1881. 
1882. 
1883. 
1884. 
1885. 
1886. 
1887. 
1888. 
1889. 
1890. 
1891. 
1892. 
1893. 
1894. 
1895. 

Total. 

3,760,653 

3,088,808 
3,597,197 
3,545,589 

4,455,595 
4,605,223 
5,084,669 
6,165,461 
7,675,829 
9,851,614 
10,101,302 
9,926,621 

9,407,751 
10,841,928 

11,121,575 
12,185,031 

13,533,217 
14,457,203 

15,585,919 
16,164,644 
15,622,879 

15,844,425 
18,281,729 

$   232,347  92 
240,277  12 
286,248  25 

278,068  94 
357,262  43 

360,175  98 
390,298  10 
458,547  60 

586,167  20 
703,422  06 

775,550  34 
717,264  90 
690,457  87 
746,107  46 
810,974  85 
881,646  36 
981,922  98 
1,028,871  57 
1,002,224  50 
1,023,617  85 
990,265  03 
1,028,430  01 
1,194,335  17 

$  16,421  10 

29,628  70 

23,644  10 

19,289  15 
14,179  54 

6,752  49 
8,089  47 
19,020  46 
52,547  54 
87,584  95 
90,644  72 
114,307  69 
63,423  48 
134,133  77 

155,972  22 

171,418  II 
203,011  13 
247,868  09 
206,601  54 
194,358  01 
217,905  64 

230,935  43 
229,571  08 

$   248,769  02 
269,905  82 

309,892  35 
297,358  09 
371,441  97 
366,928  47 
398,387  57 
477,568  06 
638,714  74 
791,007  01 
866,195  06 
831,572  59 
753,881  35 
880,241  23 
966,947  07 
,053,064  47 
,184,934  ii 
,276,739  66 
,208,826  04 
,217,975  86 
,208,170  67 
,259,365  44 
,423,906  25 











.... 



.... 





224,904,862 

$15,764,484  49 





$2,537,308  41 

$18,301,792  90 

VERACRUZ    AND    ALVARADO    RAILWAY. 


1885 

«JQ  O?8 

$18  4^1  or 

$  . 

$  18  451  01 

1886  

07  772 

18  67^  04 

882 

500 

4,042  OO 

23,615  04 

1887.  . 

2Q.Q7I 

16,677  46 

14,316  16 

30,903  62 

1888  

58,127 

33,174  25 

26,549  26 

59,723  51 

1889  

63,328 

36,779  93 

8,500 

412 

31,779  57 

68,559  5° 

1890  
1891  
1892  

1893  
1894  

1805  

72,292 
74,317 
73,249 
73,705 
32,964 
87,291 

42,128  89 
39,304  87 

47,831  14 
47,298  50 
44,294  74 
53,050  84 

11,500 
16,845 
14,498 
22,976 
20,197 
22,764 

892 
178 

000 
000 
000 

103 

34,829  14 
44,831  36 
51,025  73 

49,955  98 
56,927  90 
69,450  61 

76,958  03 
84,136  23 

98,856  87 

97,254  48 
101,222  64 
122,501  45 

Total.. 

642,094 

$397,664  67 

118,164 

085 

$384,607  71 

$782,272  38 

Total  Traffic  and  Receipts  of  Mexican  Railways. — Before  concluding 
this  chapter,  I  append  a  statement  of  the  total  traffic  and  receipts  of 
the  Mexican  Railways  from  1873  to  I^95>  taken  from  theAnuarw  Esta- 
distico  de  la  Republica  Mexicana  of  1895,  compiled  in  the  Department 
of  Communication  of  the  Mexican  Government  from  data  furnished 
the  same  by  the  respective  companies,  in  compliance  with  the  provis- 
ions of  their  grants. 


211 


RAILWAY    SUBSIDIES   PAID    BY    THE    MEXICAN    GOVERNMENT. 

I  append  a  statement  of  the  railway  subsidies  paid  by  the  Mexican 
Government  from  the  beginning  of  railway  construction  to  June  30, 
1896,  which  is  entirely  correct,  as  it  has  been  obtained  from  the  ac- 
counts of  the  Federal  Treasury  of  Mexico.  I  insert  after  that  state- 
ment a  detailed  account  of  each  of  the  railways  to  whom  subsidies  have 


•^•MHMOOHTt-mOfO'*  O\O    >OP)     •<t't>.txM     O     t*. 
M    -*  M     tx  «     tN.00  VO  \0     M     M     ts,  •*-  OVO  00     O     fO  fs  N     0     tx 


&  a  is 

.ei  1000 
cf  op*       en  co.  -^  COM" 


I  fO  •* 
M\0 


'.  cnoo"  tC  tf  «"  i-T  »x  10 


2  q. 


^2 


•*•  »o  o  O  ^.roOiN  ^-Tt-M  cooo 
M   O  er>  Qv  ^VO^  JO  j*  fp  j* 


S?5SSI&5EEI 


£sg 

?S 


i« 


:  S  •  :  *  :•«  : 
:Js  :  :i  :1  : 


i- 


aii 

B«  C 

rt  o  * 

111 


mfl 


ll 


Bw 

«T3 


.5   J  g 


rt  M  «^v?* .u-'raro        v^i^j^^fri1^        B  B«N       r^^^T3       Jt  B«*i  G        rt 


212 


Statistical  IRotes  on  dDejico, 


00 


•  v§ 


:tf  :  :  :  :  : 
oVS^SS^S-S^  iS^g^S^^S  wS,8§ 

Mt^NO^o^Mfoo  •  rovo  o>  a*  in  M  «  o  t^N  8^5 

"  "8?His 

ro  fn 


tOO   io  «     I    tx  0>  lO 

_vo  votn^.MioM 
T      >o      •*  •  cT 


^%8  a^SS  8  o  $g.8  8  8$  5- 

M  o  o  ^  o  wo  ooo^-*-»nioo  ovo_io 

<*ao  r?i  i  ""  '"          " 


!S 


W  2 


2§ 


\o       H       H 


r*H 

L&»1 

:«3»^ 


:-H  K  i  ri  s 

:§,g  :§2^ 
:  gi  :  s^^ 

;^i«-§a 

C  rt  1) 


fil^lJiJ  :'S^ 

^aulrtg"   :^-cg 

^lIlllHIS 

'^ 'rt'Scja-CpioC, 

incite 

SSJfil5« 

o  gog^ S«2^ B c 

rt«bOtirtortcrtrtrt 

iBBHlin 


213 

been  paid,  stating  the  number  of  kilometres  built,  the  amount  of  sub- 
sidy due  for  the  same,  and  the  manner  in  which  the  subsidy  was 
paid,  that  statement  being  the  most  complete  that  has  so  far  been 
published  : 

R£SUM£. — Amount  paid  in  Cash $  46,896,901  95 

"  "       Certificates  of  Construction  (convertible 

in  five  per  cent,  bonds) 21,711,513  92 

"  "       Bonds 31,127,00000 

"         of  Balance  due  (payable  either  in  cash  or  Bonds),         8,008,24438 

Total  amount  of  Subsidies,  as  per  corresponding  concessions,  $107,743,660  25 

The  Tehuantepec  Railway  cost  of  construction  is  herein  included,  in  order  to 
give  a  complete  statement  of  the  Government's  pecuniary  outlay  for  the  construction 
of  railways  in  the  country.  As  the  $13,500,000  amount  of  the  five  per  cent.  Bonds 
paid  on  account  of  the  construction  of  this  line  to  the  contractors,  McMurdo  &  Co., 
represent  a  gold  indebtedness,  if  reduced  at  the  rate  of  24  pence  per  dollar,  the 
above  total  cost  of  railway  construction  should  be  increased  by  an  equal  amount,  say 
$13,500,000  Mexican  currency— or  a  grand  total  of  $121,243,660.25. 

DETAILED    STATEMENT    OF    THE    SUBSIDIES   PAID    BY    THE    MEXICAN 
GOVERNMENT    TO    THE   RAILWAY    COMPANIES. 

1.  MEXICAN  RAILWAY. — (From  Mexico  City  to  Veracruz.) 
Subsidy  as  per  original  concession,  $560,000  per  annum,  during 

25  years,  equal  to $14,000,000  oo 

Paid  previous  to  October  21,  1890 10,187,315  79 

Balance  in  favor  of  the  company,  on  October 

21,  1890,  as  per  special  agreement  of  the 

same  date $3,497,878  80 

<)%  deduction,  for  cash   payment,  according  to 

the  second  clause  of  said  agreement 314,805  41 

Total  payment 14,000,000  oo 

2.  HIDALGO  RAILWAY. — (From  Mexico  City  to  Pachuca,  Hid.) 

Subsidy,  $8000,  per  kilometre,  as  per  concession $1,232,088  oo 

Paid  on  account  thereof  in  cash $931,296  37 

In  3$  and  $%  Bonds 300,791  63 

Total  payment 1,232,088  oo 

3.  VERACRUZ   &   ALVARADO   RAILWAY. — (Coast    Line    between 

the  said  ports.) 

Subsidy  due  the  Company,  $6000  per  kilometre,  as  per  con- 
cession        $440,000  oo 

Paid  on  account  thereof,  in  cash $394,000  oo 

In  3#  Bonds 46,000  oo  440,000  oo 

4.  MERIDA  &  PETO  RAILWAY. — (Between  the  two  named  towns, 

State  of  Yucatan.) 

Subsidy,  due  the  Company,  $6000  per  kilometre,  as  per  con- 
cession        $648,000  oo 

Paid  in  cash $577,445  85 

In  3$  Bonds 70,554  15 

Total  payment 648,000  oo 


214  Statistical  IRotes  on 

5.  INTEROCEANIC  RAILWAY. — (Narrow  gauge,  from  Veracruz  to 

Acapulco,  Pacific  Coast.) 

Subsidy  due  the  Company $5,57O,5H  12 

483'?&  Kilometres  at  $8000 $3,866,469  12 

gi.ium          «          <«    6500 526,50000 

140. *&&•          "          "    6000 840,000  oo 

38.115.          « '          unsubsidized 

Construction  bounty  earned,  as  per  concession 

on  the  Mexico  &  Cuautla  division 137,542  OO 

Construction  bounty  earned,  as  per  concession 

on  the  Jalapa  &  Veracruz  division 200,000  oo      5,570,511  12 

Paid  in  cash $2,896,938  oo 

In  certificates  already  paid  for, 
out  of  the  3$  of  the  Cus- 
toms Receipts 2,673,573  12 

Total  payment 5,57O,5ll  12 

6.  OCCIDENTAL  RAILWAY. — (Between  points  in  the  States  of  Sina- 

loa  and  Durango.) 

Length  of  the  road,  according  to  the  concession 
1373  kilometres,  subsidy  at  the  rate  of 
$8000,  per  kilometre,  as  follows  : 

From  Altata,  (Port  on  the  Paci- 
fic Coast,  Gulf  of  Califor- 
nia), to  Culiacan,  capital  of 
the  State  of  Sinaloa 6i.il!  kilometres  constructed 

From  Culiacan  to  Durango  and 

Fresnillo  cities 600 

A  Branch  to  Guaymas 536 

"      "  Mazatlan 237 

i,373 
Subsidy  due  for  the   first    6i.iH    kilometres 

already  built $495,416  oo 

Construction  bounty  according    to    concession 

$1000  per  kilometre 61,927  oo 

Total  amount  due  and  paid  for  to  the  Company $557,343  oo 

7.  MEXICAN  CENTRAL,  and  sundry  branches. — (Trunk-line,  from 

Mexico  City  to  El  Paso  del  Norte,  on  the  Rio  Grande 
River.) 

Subsidy  due  in  accordance  with  the  corresponding  charter  was    $26,609,003  50 

As  follows  :  for  1970. !°-°-  kilo- 
metres of  the  trunk-line,  of 
which  107  kilometres  were 
subsidized  at  $1500  per  kilo- 
metre  $  160,500  oo 

And  1,863..!°°  kilometres  at 

$9500  per  kilometre 17,704,200  oo  $17,864,700  OO 

For  258.M2  kilometres  of  the 


215 

Gaudalajara  branch,  which 
reduced  as  per  special  contract 
of  Feb.  25,  1887,  to  2I8.M2 
kilometres  at  $9500  per  kilo- 
metre   $2,076,510  oo 

For  653.M2  kilometres  of  the 
Aguascalientes  &  T  a  m  p  i  c  o 
Branch,  at  $9500  per  kilo- 
metre   6,208,250  oo 

For  25  kilometres  of  the  San 
Bias  &  Guaristemba  at  $9500 

per  kilometre 237,500  oo      8,522,260  oo 

For  23.111  kilometres  of  Silao  & 
Guanajuato  Branch  at  $9500 

per  kilometre 222,043  5° 

Total  payment $26,609,003  50 

This  total  amount,  was  settled  and  paid  for  in 
accordance  with  special  agreement  entered 
into  by  and  between  the  Department  of  Pub- 
lic Works  and  the  Company,  on  August  23, 
1890,  as  follows : 

Lands,  art-works,  drafts  and  plans,  etc.,  due  by 
the  Company  as  per  settlement  effected 

December  22,  1881 $        34,204  39 

Rebate  off  the  subsidy  corresponding  to  6600 
kilometres  of  parallel  lines,  between  Zaca- 
tecas  &  Guadalajara,  as  per  agreement 

therefor 52,800  oo 

Rebate  off  the  subsidy  on  50  kilometres  of  the 
line,  between  Tantoyuquita  &  Tampico,  as 

per  agreement 75,ooo  oo 

Cash  received  by  the  Government  of  the  State 
of  San  Luis  Potosi,  on  account  of  the  old 

branch  line  to  Tampico 48,000  oo 

Certificates  of  construction  paid  at  various  Cus- 
tom Houses  out  of  the  8$  of  the  receipts  of 
the  same,  during  the  fiscal  years  1881-1890      7,108,070  80 
Paid  with  bills  of  exchange  on  London  out  of 
the   proceeds   of   the   loan    negotiated  in 

1890 14,335,732  06 

25$  discount  on  $19,820,793  01,  amount  of  the 
balance  acknowledged  in  favor  of  the  Com- 
pany, according  to  the  above  mentioned 

agreement,  (August  23,  1890) 4,955,196  25 

Total  payment $26,609,003  50 

8.     MEXICAN     NATIONAL,     and     branches.  —  (Trunk-line    from 
Mexico  City  to  Laredo,  Tamaulipas.) 

The  Company  constructed  173 7. Mi  kilometres 
for  which  the  Government  owed  the  fol- 
lowing subsidies  : — 


216  Statistical  IRotes  on  /IDejico. 

On  1444.  MA  kilometres  of  the  trunk  line,  at  the 

rate  of  $7000  per  kilometre $10,108,315  oo 

On  273.  M&  kilometres  of  the  trunk  line,  at  the 

rate  of  $6500  per  kilometre 1,774,500  oo 

On  20  kilometres  of  the  Salto  Branch  at  the  rate 

of  $8000  per  kilometre 160,000  oo 

Total  amount  of  subsidy  due $12,042,815  oa 

The  above  amount  was  paid  in  certificates  of  construction  for.  .$11,929,870  oo 
of  which  the  sum  of  $8,746,722  60  was  paid  at  several  Custom-Houses 
during  the  fiscal  years  1882-1895,  and  the  balance  of  $3,183,147  40,  was 
converted,  by  special  agreement  between  the  Treasury  Department  and 
Messrs.  Lionel  Carden  and  H.  P.  Webb,  as  representatives  of  the  Company 
in  5$  Bonds.  The  balance  of  $112,945  which  in  the  preceding  statement, 
appears  as  pending  of  payment,  was  accepted  by  the  Company,  as  the 
value  of  the  Government's  shares  in  the  Salto  Branch. 

9.  "  SONORA  RAILWAY." — (From  Guaymas,  on  the  Gulf  of  Califor- 

nia, to  Nogales,  on  the  boundary  line.) 

Subsidy  on  422 $11  kilometres  at  the  rate  of  $7000  per  kilometre,  $  2,956,184  oa 

Paid  to  the  Company,  cash $  2,071,310  60 

Fine  against  the  forfeiture  of  the  concession. . .          100,000  oo 
3#  Bonds  in  accordance  with  the  provisions  of 

the  law  of  September  6th,  1894 784,873  40 

Total  payment $  2,956, 184  oa 

10.  "MERIDA   &   VALLADOLID   RAILWAY,"  with  a  branch. — (Be- 

tween these  two  towns  in  the  State  of  Yucatan.) 

Subsidy  due  on  io8.1M  kilometres  at  $6000  per  kilometre $642,008  oa 

Paid  for  as  follows,  cash $      597,608  oo 

In  3$  Bonds  (law  of  September  6th,  1894). . . .  44,400  oo 

Total  payment $642,008  oa 

11.  "MERIDA  &  CAMPECHE  RAILWAY,"  via.    Kalkini. — (Between 

the  capitals  of  the  States  of  Yucatan  and  Campeche.) 

Subsidy  due  on  135. 1B28  kilometres  at  $6000  per  kilometre,       $810,915  oo 

Paid  to  the  Company  in  cash $766,91 5  oo 

In  3$  Bonds 44,000  oo 

Total  payment $810,915  oo 

12.  "SAN  MARCOS  &  NAUTLA  RAILWAY." — Between  San  Marcos 

station  on  the  Mexican  Ry.  and  Nautla  bar  on  the  Gulf 
of  Mexico.) 

Subsidy  due  on  75  kilometres  at  $6000  per  kilometre $450,000  oo 

Paid  to  the  Company  as  follows  :  Cash $  70,500  oo 

In  special  5$  subsidy  Bonds 349,000  OO 

In  3$  Bonds  according  to  the  provisions  of  the 

law  of  September  6th,   1894 500  oo 

Rebatement  of  subsidy  on  5  kilometres  running 

parallel  with  the  "  Interoceanic  Ry 30,000  oo 

Total  payment $450,000  oo 


•Railways,  217 

13.  "  TOLUCA  &  SAN  JUAN  de  las  HUERTAS  RAILWAY." — (Between 

the  capital  of  the  State  of   Mexico  and  the  San  Juan 
estate.) 

Subsidy  due  on  15.^!^  kilometres  at  $3500  per  kilometre $55,023  50 

Paid  to  the  Company,  cash $46,250  oo 

In  2%  Bonds  (law  of  September  6th,  1894) 8,773  5° 

Total  payment $55,023  50 

14.  "  VANEGAS,  CEDRAL,  MATEHUALA  &  Rio  VERDE  RAILWAY." — 

(All  townships  within  the  State  of  San  Luis  Potosi.) 

Subsidy  due  on  65. M£  kilometres  at  $5500  per  kilometre $357,5OO  oo 

Paid  to  the  Company,  cash $341,000  oo 

In  $%  Bonds  (September  6th,  1894) 16,500  oo 

Total  payment $357,500  oo 

15.  "JIMENEZ    and    SIERRA   MADRE   RAILWAY." — (Through  the 

Hidalgo  District,  State  of  Chihuahua.) 

Subsidy  due  on  5.M£  kilometres  at  $8000  per  kilometre $40,000  oo 

The  whole  paid  to  the  Company  in  3$  Bonds  (Law  of  Septem- 
ber 6th,  1894. 

16.  "MEXICAN  SOUTHERN   RAILWAY." — (367  kilometres  from  the 

City  of  Puebla  to  Oaxaca.) 

Subsidy  due  under  agreement  of  May  4th,  1892 $11,248,805  10 

First  annuity  of  interest  paid  to  the  Company 
in  conformity  with  the  original  concession 
of  April  2ist,  1886 $880,800  oo 

Conversion  of  the  remaining  14  annuities,  as 
per  the  above  named  agreement,  in  special 
Bonds  denominated  of  the  ' '  Oaxaca  Trunk 
Line" 8,558,888  55 

Bounty  paid  to  the  Company,  as  per  original 

concession,  in  Bonds  (special) 1,809,116  55 

Total  payment $11,248,805  10 

Of  the  total  amount  of  special  Bonds  issued,  $10,368,000  oo 

Cashed 1, 108,000  oo 

Outstanding 9,260,000  oo 

17.  "TONALA"    (State   of   Chiapas,   Pacific  Coast)   and  "  FRON- 

TERA  RAILWAY." — (State  of  Tabasco,   on  the   Gulf  of 
Mexico.) 

Subsidy  on  50  kilometres  at  $8000  per  kilometre $400,000  oo 

Paid  to  the  Company  with  6$  Bonds,  valued  at 

90$  of  their  nominal $444,444  oo 

The  balance  shown  in  the  preceding  statement 

in  favor  of  the  Company  for  $44,444.00 

proceeds  from  the  want  of  a  Bond  of  less 

value  than  $1000  of  the  corresponding  issue. 


Statistical  IRotes  on  /IDejico, 

1 8.  "MONTEREY"    (Capital   of   the   State   of   Nuevo   Leon)    and 

"  MEXICAN  GULF  RAILWAY."— (Port  of  Tampico.) 

Subsidy  on  624.*!°.  kilometres  at  $8000  per  kilometre $5,534-572  24' 

Wholly  paid  for  in  $%  Bonds,  issued  under  the  law  of  Sep- 
tember 6th,  1894,  with  the  exception  of  a  balance  of 
$572.24,  which,  on  account  of  the  want  of  bonds  of  less 
value  than  $1000,  is  still  pending  of  settlement.  Of  the 
original  issue  of  special  Bonds  given  to  the  Company  in 
payment  of  the  subsidy,  $235,000  is  still  pending  of  con- 
version. 

19.  "  TECOLUTLA  "  (a  bar  on  the  Mexican  Gulf)  and  "  ESPINAL 

RAILWAY." — (Both  in  the  State  of  Veracruz.) 

According  to  the  original  concession,  the  subsidy  granted  to  this 

Company  was  on  19  kilometres  at  the  rate  of  $4500  in 

cash  per  kilometre  ;   but  under  a  new  agreement,    dated 

January,  2Oth,  1892,  it  was  settled  as  follows  : 

9  kilometres  at  the  rate  of  $4500  each  in  cash,         $40,500  oo 

10  kilometres  in  Bonds  at  $6000  each 60,000  oo 

Total  payment $100,500  oo 

20.  "PACHUCA"  (Capital  of  the  State  of  Hidalgo)  and  "TAMP- 

ICO RAILWAY." — (On  the  Mexican  Gulf.) 

Subsidy  on  io.M°  kilometres  at  $8000 $80,000  oo 

Totally  paid  in  Bonds,  in  accordance  with  the  law  of  Septem- 
ber 6th,  1894. 

21.  "  MARAVATIO  "  &  "  IGUALA  RAILWAY." — (Towns  in  the  States 

of  Michoacan  and  Guerrero,  respectively.) 

Subsidy  on  50  kilometres  at  $3000  in  cash  and 
$3000  in  special  Bonds,  under  10%  discount 
off  their  nominal  value,  and  paid  for,  cash,  $112,000  oo 

Bonds 166,000  oo 

Total  payment $316,666  so1 

22.  "  MEXICAN  NORTHEASTERN  RAILWAY." — (An  extension  of  the 

"  Hidalgo  "  Ry.  to  Tizayuca,  in  the  State  of  that  name.) 

Subsidy  on  50.^1°  kilometres  at  $6000 $300,540  oo 

Paid  for,  in  cash $294,000  oo 

In  3$  Bonds 6,540  oo 

Total  payment $300,540  oo 

1  Some  of  the  total  payments  in  this  table  do  not  correspond  to  the  amount  of  sub- 
sidy due,  because  in  some  of  those  cases  other  payments  have  been  made,  like 
bounty,  of  which  no  account  appears  in  the  respective  statement.  In  some  cases  a 
bounty  was  offered  provided  the  road  was  finished  before  the  time  fixed  in  the  respec- 
tive grant. 


IRailwags.  219 

23.  "  VERACRUZ  &  BOCA  del  Rio  RAILWAY." 

Subsidy  acknowledged  on  n.Mi  kilometres  at  $8000  per  kilo- 
metre    $92,032  oo 

Paid  for,  cash $83,000  oo 

In  3%  Bonds 9,032  oo 

Total  payment $92,032  oo 

24.  "  TULA,   ZACUALTIPAN  "   (State  of  Hidalgo),   and  TAMPICO 

RAILWAY. 

Subsidy  on  70.  °  °  °  kilometres  at  $8,000  per  kilometre $560,000  oo 

The  whole  amount  paid  for  in  $%  Bonds,  of  which  $285,000 
were  outstanding  on  the  3Oth  of  June,  1896. 

25.  "  MATAMOROS  IZUCAR  "  (State  of  Puebla)   and  "  ACAPULCO 

RAILWAY." — (On  the  Pacific  coast.) 

Subsidy  under  contract  of  March  22d,  1895,  on  40  kilometres. .       $988,776  49 

Paid  as  follows  :  cash,  for  the  amount  of  2%  in- 
terest   annuities  paid  to  the  Company  in 
conformity  with  the  original  concession ...        $111,370  62 
In  5$  Bonds,  according  to  the  above  con- 
tract          877,405  87 

Total  payment $988,776  49 

26.  "LOWER  CALIFORNIA   RAILWAY." — (From   the  town  of  San 

Quintin  to  a  point  on  the  "  Mexican  Central,"  Chihuahua.) 

Subsidy  on  20  kilometres,  payable  in  6$  Bonds  at  the  rate  of 
$8000  per  kilometre,  the  said  Bonds,  afterwards  converted 
in  conformity  with  the  corresponding  law  of  conversion, 
were  taken  by  the  Company  under  10%  discount  off  their 
nominal  value $177,777  77 

27.  "  MONTE  ALTO  RAILWAY." — (Starts  from  the  town  of  Tlalne- 

pantla,  on  the  Salto  branch  of  the  "  Mexican  National," 
towards  Alizapan  and  Villa  del  Carbon.) 

Subsidy  on  10  kilometres  at  $6000  per  kilometre,  payable  in 
6#  Bonds  taken  by  the  Company  at  the  rate  of  90$  of  their 
face  value $66,666  66 

28.  TEHUANTEPEC  R.  R. — (Between  Coatzacoalcos  on  the  Gulf  of 

Mexico,  and  Salina  Cruz,  on  the  Pacific  coast.) 

COSTS  OF  CONSTRUCTION  TO  THE  MEXICAN  GOVERNMENT. 

I.    CONTRACTORS,  EDWARD  LEARNED  &  Co.— (Contract  of  June  2d,  1879.) 

35  kilometres,  of  which  only  25  were  paid 

for,  at  $7500 $187,500  oo 

The  Learned  contract  was  rescinded  by 
the  Mexican  Government  on  August 
i6th,  1882  ;  but  by  agreement  ad- 
justed with  J,  Tyng,  as  representative 
of  the  contractors,  who  received  the 
following  payments : 


220  Statistical  motes  on 


December  2ist,   1882,       $125,000  oo 
July  Qth,  1883  .......          403,618  44 

July  igth,  1883  ......          101,068  48 

July  1  2th,  1888  ......       1,075,726  go      1,705,413  82 

Total  amount  paid  to  Learned  &  Co  ....................    $1,892,913  82 

Of  which  amount  the  sum  of  $230,413.82  represents 
interest  accrued  at  the  rate  or  6%  per  annum  ;  so  that 
the  35  kilometers  built  by  these  contractors  actually 
cost  $14,083.25  per  kilometre. 

3.    CONTRACTOR,  MR.  DELPIN  SANCHEZ.—  (Agreement  of  Oc- 
tober sth,  1882.) 

This  contractor  received  from  the  Govern- 

ment the  sum  of  ...................    $1,079,135  40 


For  the  purchase  of  material,  which  he  only 

accounted   for  the   amount  of  $908,- 

910.50  the  balance  of  ......  .  .......       $170,224  90 

Having  been  donated  to  the  contractor  ac- 

cording to  special  agreement  of  April 

25th,  1888. 
The    same    contractor    received    in    150 

weekly  installments    of    $1900    each 

during  the  fiscal  years  1885,  1888  ____        $285,000  oo 
Mr.  Sanchez  delivered  as  constructed  74  kilo- 

meters which  were  paid  to  him  at  the 

rate  of  $25,000  each  ................    $1,850,00000    $2,305,22490 

3.     MAC-MuRDO  CONTRACT.  —  (Agreement  approved  by  Decree 
of  October  isth,  1888.) 


For  the  completion  of  the  construction  and  the  furnishing 
of  all  the  rolling  material,  etc.,  and  for  which  the  Con- 
tractors received  inpayment  in  $%  Bonds,  special  issue, 
principal  and  interests  payable  in  sterling  currency, 
£2,700,000  ..................................  ...  $13,500,000  oo 

This  contract  was  rescinded  on  the  I3th  of  January,  1892, 
when  the  contractors,  in  settlement  of  accounts,  sur- 
rendered to  the  Government  the  sum  of  about  $2,000,- 
ooo  as  surplus  proceeding  from  the  sale  of  the  said 
bonds,  and  delivered,  more  or  less,  250  kilometres  of 
the  lines  as  built  or  repaired  within  the  stipulations  of 
the  said  contract. 

STANHOPE,   HAMPSON   &   CORTHEL  CONTRACT.  —  (Made 
under  Decree  of  December  6th,  1893.) 

For  the  construction  of  59  kilometres  and  the  completion 
of  all  the  necessary  works  for  the  preservation  and 
working  of  the  whole  line,  for  the  fixed  sum  of,  ......  $1,483,035  oo 


Total  cost  of  the  line $19,181,173  72 


public  Debt. 


221 


PUBLIC    DEBT. 

In  the  first  part  of  this  paper  I  gave  a  brief  statement  of  the  differ- 
ent loans  and  liabilities  which  constitute  the  Mexican  debt,  and  that 
statement  will  make  it  easy  to  understand  the  different  issues  and 
denominations  of  our  bonds.  Here  I  append  a  detailed  statement 
of  the  National  Debt  of  Mexico,  up  to  June  30,  1896,  submitted  to 
Congress  by  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  on  the  i4th  of  December, 
1896,  and  a  further  statement  containing  the  same  data  in  a  more 
concise  form. 


STATEMENT  OF  THE    NATIONAL    DEBT  OF   MEXICO  TO  JUNE  30,  1896. 

Bonded  Debt,  Principal  and  Interest  payable  in  Ster- 
ling currency. 

Six  per  cent,  interest  bearing  Bonds  for  the  Loan  of  1888, 

with  . .  %  sinking  fund,  Capital  and  Interest $51,908,786  50 

Six  per  cent,  interest  bearing  Bonds  for  the  Loan  of  1890, 

with  . .  %  sinking  fund,  Capital  and  Interest 30,068,710  25 

Six  per  cent,  interest  bearing  Bonds  for  the  Loan  of  1893, 

with  . .  %  sinking  fund,  Capital  and  Interest 15,325,561  50 

Five  per  cent,  interest  bearing  Bonds  for  the  Construc- 
tion of  the  Tehuantepec  Railway,  1889,  Capital....  13,500,000  oo 

Six  per  cent,  (non  converted  balance)  Bonds  of  the  Loan, 

contracted  in  London,  1851,  Capital 134,153  12 

Total  amount  of  outstanding  Bonds,  payable 

in  Sterling  currency $110,937,911  37 

Bonded  Debt,  Principal  and  Interest  payable  in  Mexi- 
can Silver  currency. 

Three  per  cent,  interest  bearing  Bonds  of  the  Interior 

Consolidated  Debt,  Capital  and  Interest $52,464,927  60 

Five  per  cent,  interest  bearing  Bonds  of  the  Interior  Re- 
deemable Debt,  first  series,  Capital  and  Interest. . . .  19,995,689  48 

Five  per  cent,  interest  bearing  Bonds  of  the  Interior  Re- 
deemable Debt,  second  series,  Capital  and  Interest.  987,127  15 

Subsidy  Bonds,  non  converted  balances,  for  sundry 

works  and  railways,  Capital 9,792,865  75 

Total     83,240,609  98 

Railway  Construction  Certificates,  pending  of  conver- 
sion, Capital 219  17 

Balance-certificates  corresponding  to  the  fiscal  years 
comprehended  between  1882  and  1894,  Capital  pend- 
ing of  conversion 329,221  91 

Total  amount  of  bonded  debt,  payable  in  Mexi- 
can Silver  currency 83,570,051  06 

Grand  Total  of  Bonded  Liabilities $194,507,362  43 

Liabilities  from  various  sources,  and  in  forms,  other 

than  Bonds,  payable  in  Mexican  Silver  currency. 
To  Railway,  Harbor  Works  and  Drainage  of  the  Valley 

of  Mexico,  Contractors $    501,741  02 

To  Unpaid  for   Appropriations  in  the  Budgets  for  the 

fiscal  years  between   1891  and  1896 612,337  82 

To  other  credits  pending  of  settlement :  on  account  of 

the  same  Budgets 600,894  63 

To  Balances  in  Account-current  due  various  Contractors 

with  some  of  the  Executive  Departments 315,818  95 

To  sundry,  cash  or    otherwise    executed,   Deposits,  as 

guarantee  for  pending  contracts 2,681,662  95 

To  provisional  certificates  issued  on  account  of  the  1888, 

1890  and  1893,  Sterling  Loans 3*7381684  12 

To  cash  or  other  values  pending  of  classification  in  the 

corresponding  accounts •  74i434  57 

To  cash  Receipts  on  account  of  credits,  other  than  fiscal 

and  pending  of  payment  to  the  corresponding  offices.  32*829  68 

To  Balance  due  to  Mint-Lessees 48,214  89 

To  outstanding  Bins  Payable 111,186  28 

Total  Amount  of  Liabilities  from    various 

sources  and  in  forms  other  than  Bonds. . . .  8,717,804  91 

Grand  Total  of  the  Mexican  National  Debt $203,225,067  34 


222 


Statistical  motes  on  /l&ejico. 


00 


5  E  o  *3"a  gj 

J!!Il?if  :J|J:f|g|!l 
•fl^1?  ^o'e  :*S  :."H  §*  «  8  2  g  o'g  8 


w 

i?a  i 

II  §•  H 


•?• 


u  a 
S  j-S  o  8-« 


SS^i 


|§^2 


u'o'o'S'o  g 

^00000 

Mi4i4i2i30< 


'  c  yJ.*J  I'c  J"c'|  0fS'S  J  I 
o  ftrtuts  ^s^aC  rtrt«3 
U  W0QCJPQ  t3cflPQw(X,  UOPQO 


post*®fflce  anD  Ueleatapb  Service*  225 


POST-OFFICE    AND    TELEGRAPH    SERVICE. 

I  append  a  statement  containing  the  number  of  post-offices,  and 
postal  agencies  in  each  of  the  Mexican  states  in  1895,  and  the  num- 
ber of  postal  pieces  transported  by  Mexican  mails  from  the  years 
1878-1879  to  1894-1895.  (See  page  225.) 

I  have  prepared  a  statement  of  the  earnings  and  expenditures  of 
the  post-office  and  telegraph  services  in  Mexico  during  the  twenty- 
seven  fiscal  years  elapsed  from  July  i,  1869,  to  June  30,  1896.  It  was 
not  possible  to  obtain  full  data  of  the  earnings  of  the  telegraph  lines 
during  the  first  ten  years  of  that  period,  on  account  of  the  defective 
way  in  which  the  books  were  kept  by  the  Federal  Treasury  of  Mexico. 
With  that  exception  the  data  embraced  in  the  following  statement  is 
correct,  as  it  has  been  taken  from  the  official  accounts.  (See  p.  224.) 

POST-OFFICES  IN  MEXICO  IN  1895  BY  STATES. 
STATES.  OFFICE  POSTAL  AGENCIES.  TOTAL, 

Aguascalientes ...  5  5  ..  10 

Campeche 8  3  ..  n 

Chiapas 7  24  ..  31 

Chihuahua 24  58  . .  82. 

Coahuila 25  26  i  52- 

Colima 2  9  ..  n 

Durango 19  42  ..  61 

Federal  District i  8  10  19 

Guanajuato 27  38  ..  65 

Guerrero 13  31  . .  44 

Hidalgo 19  43  . .  62 

Jalisco 35  83  . .  1 1& 

Lower  California 7  17  ..  24 

Mexico 14  21  . .  35 

Michoacan 22  59  ..  81 

Morelos 9  9  . .  18 

New  Leon 18  33  ..  51 

Oaxaca 22  39  ..  61 

Puebla 27  77  i  105 

Queretaro 7  10  ..  17 

San  Luis  Potosi 18  34  ..  52^ 

Sinaloa 16  28  ..  44 

Sonora 14  75  ..  89 

Tabasco 5  1 6  . .  21 

Tamaulipas 17  36  . .  53, 

Tepic 7  13  ..  20 

Tlaxcala 9  7  ..  16 

Veracruz 36  82  ..  118 

Yucatan 16  40  ..  56 

Zacatecas 20  23  i  44 

Total 469  989  13  1471 


224 


Statistical  IRotes  on 


EARNINGS  AND  EXPENDITURES  OF  THE  POST-OFFICE  AND  TELEGRAPH 
SERVICES  DURING  THE  LAST  TWENTY-SEVEN  FISCAL  YEARS,  FROM 
JULY  I,  1869,  TO  JUNE  30,  1896. 


FISCAL 
YEARS. 

POST-OFFICE. 

TELEGRAPH. 

BOTH   SERVICES.  —  TOTAL. 

Dr. 

Expenditure. 

Cr. 

Earnings. 

Dr. 

Expenditure. 

Cr. 

Earnings.1 

Dr. 

Expenditure. 

Cr. 

Earnings.1 

1869-1870.  .  . 
1870-1871... 
1871-1872... 
1872-1873... 
1873-1874... 

Total  in 
five  years.  . 
Average 
per  annum. 

1874-1875... 
1875-1876... 
1876-1877... 
1877-1878... 
1878-1879... 
Total  in 
five  years.. 
Average 
per  annum. 

1879-1880.  .  . 
1880-1881... 
1881-1882... 
1882-1883... 
1883-1884.  .  . 
Total  in 
five  years.. 
Average 
per  annum. 

1884-1885... 
1885-1886.  .  . 
1886-1887... 
1887-1888... 
1888-1889... 
Total  in 
five  years.  . 
Average 
per  annum. 

1889-1890... 
1800-1891  .  .  . 
1891-1892... 
1892-1893... 
1893-1894... 
Total  in 
five  years.  . 
Average 
per  annum 

1894-1895... 
1895-1896.  .  . 
Total  in 
two  years.  . 
Average 
per  annum 
Total  in  the 
27  years  .  .  . 
Average 
per  annum 

$      132,399  06 

I54i574  9° 
340,324  63 

457»I53  J9 
491,199  48 

£      120,120  24 
167,348  85 
265,440  22 
474,819  ii 
523,583  09 

$        29,212  73 
84,150  oo 
48,379  7? 

72,418  96 
174,504  32 

$          1,809  53 

$     161,611  79 
238,724  90 
388,704  40 
529,572  15 
665,703  80 

$  i,57S,65i  26 

$  i,55i,3"  Si 

$   408,665  78 

$  1,984,317  04 

$      315,130  25 

$      310,262  30 

$        81,733  16 

$     396,86341 

$      641,836  35 
480,299  37 
530,032  95 
682,076  21 
867,789  75 

$      549,820  14 
455,473  12 
441,329  10 
590,384  36 
679,392  06 

$      190,366  06 
161,795  66 

134,830   02 

241,200  oo 
259,095  86 



$     832,202  41 
642,095  03 
664,862  97 



$       1,789  is 

1,126,885  61 

$  3,202,034  63 

$  2,716,398  78 

$      987,287  60 



$  4,189,322  23 



$      640,406  93 

$      543,279  76 

$      !97,457  52 



$     837,864  45 

$      892,856  73 
983,606  17 
873,201  78 
840,354  70 
878,519  75 

$      702,080  39 
833,830  87 
704,766  47 
795,122  86 
698,019  36 

$      348,290  24 
196,542  94 
570,155  25 
916,657  53 
677,729  50 

$      101,064  69 

135,144   02 
174,301    24 
219,384   91 

239,051  45 

$  1,241,146  97 
1,180,149  IJ 
1,443,357  03 
1,757,012  23 
1,556,249  25 

$      803,145  08 
968,974  89 
879,067  71 
1,014,507  77 
937,070  81 

$  4,468,539  13 

$  3,733,8i9  95 

$  2,709,375  46 

$      868,946  31 

$  7,i77,9H  59 

$  4,602,766  26 

$      893,707  83 

$      746,763  99 

$      54^875  09 

$      173,789  26 

$  1,435,582  92 

$      920,553  25 

$  1,411,183  03 
751,227  37 
943,33*  74 
956,701  47 
1,049,880  10 

$      642,660  19 
672,329  80 
739,732  65 
793,873  74 
880,530  93 

$      618,829  54 
622,858  67 
718,821  70 
799,074  24 
820,072  05 

$      180,820  77 
155,442  82 
197,478  87 
275,856  95 
329,493  13 

$  2,030,012  57 
1,374,086  04 
1,662,154  44 
1,755,775  7i 
1,869,952  15 

$      823,480  06 
827,772  62 
937,2"  5* 
1,069,730  69 
1,210,024  °6 

$  5,™2,324  71 

$  3,729,127  31 

$   3,579,656   20 

$  1,139,092  54 

$  8,691,980  91 

$  4,868,219  85 

$  1,022,464  94 

$      745,825  46 

$      7I5,93I  24 

$      227,818  51 

$  1,738,396  18 

$      973,643  97 

$  1,126,436  69 
1,196,329  63 
1,342,437  « 

1,278,587   20 

1,250,855  82 

$      994,"2  87 
1,084,153  40 
1,127,563  18 
1,153,401  20 
1,213,309  46 

$      872,316  89 
972,164  06 
1,045,726  44 
1,073,105  81 
954,864  48 

$      388,926  07 
462,076  59 
501,802  33 
528,881  96 
524,634  33 

$  1,998,753  58 
2,168,493  69 
2,388,163  55 

2,35I,693  OI 
2,205,720  30 

$  1,383,038  94 
1,546,229  9Q 
1,629,365  51 
1,682,283  *6 
1,737,943  79 

$  6,194,646  45 

$  5,572,540  " 

$  4,918,177  68 

$  2,406,321  28 

$11,112,824  13 

$  7,978,861  39 

$  1,238,929  29 

$    1,114,508  02 

$      983,635  54 

$      481,264  26 

$  2,222,564  83 

$  i,  595,772  28 

$      633,201  36 
1,228,784  30 

$  1,337,691  40 

1,062,415  99 

$      531,949  48 
1,025,347  29 

$      547,308  67 
622,340  69 

$  1,165,150  84 
2,254,131  59 

$  1,885,000  07 
1,684,756  68 

$  1,861,985  66 

$  2,400,107  39 

$  1,557,296  77 

$  1,169,649  36 

$  3,419,282  43 

$  3,569,756  75 

$      930,992  83 

$  1,200,053  7° 

$      778,648  38 

$     584,824  68 

$  1,709,641  21 

$  1,784,878  38 

$22,415,181  84 

$19,703*305  05 

$14,160,459  49 

$  5,584,009  49  $36,575,641  33 

$21,019,604  25 

$      830,191  92 

$      729,752  04 

$      524,461  46 

$      328,471  14 

$  1,354,653  38 

$  1,236,447  30 

1  The  totals  and  averages  per  annum  in  the  colums  marked  u  Earnings"  and  "  Total  Earnings" 
only  embrace  seventeen  years,  as  the  returns  for  the  first  ten  years  being  very  incomplete  are  not 
computed. 


225 


NUMBER  OF  PIECES  TRANSPORTED  BY  MEXICAN  MAILS  FROM  1878-1879 

TO  1894-1895. 


FISCAL  YEARS. 


NUMBER  OF  PIECES. 


1878-1879 5,992,611 

1879-1880 5,786,790 

l88o-l88l 6,141,790 

l88l-l882 6,732,504 

1882-1883 10,640,5 16 

1883-1884 10,488,5 18 

1884-1885 1 1,905,209 

1885-1886 13,289,591 

1886-1887 16,504,034 

1887-1888 27,429,018 

1888-1889 43,052,800 

1889-1890 95>852»939 

1890-1891 111,406,893 

1891-1892 .  116,778,853 

1892-1893 122,821,359 

1893-1894 35,818,148 

1894-1895 24,773,636 

Total 665,415,209 

Printed  matter,  samples,  and  parcel  post  articles  in  the  year  1894- 
1895,  weighed  in  grammes,  1,107,755,679. 

The  notable  reduction  which  appears  in  the  last  two  years  is  due  to 
the  fact  that  in  the  preceding  years  all  correspondence  was  counted, 
namely  :  such  pieces  as  were  received  and  sent,  and  such  as  came  in 
transit,  while  in  the  last  two  years  only  are  accounted  such  as  were  sent. 

BANKS. 

The  following  statement  contains  a  list  of  all  the  banks  existing  in 
Mexico  up  to  December  31,  1895,  and  their  respective  condition  : 

LIST    OF   MEXICAN   BANKS. 


STATE. 


LOCATION. 


NAME   OF   BANK. 


DATE   OF 
CHARTER. 


Federal  District. 


Chihuahua. . 


Mexico  City 

Chihuahua  City., 


Yucatan. 


Merida 


Durango  . . 
Zacatecas. . 
New  Leon. 


Durango  City . . 
Zacatecas  City. 
Monterey 


National  Bank  of  Mexico 

International  and  Hypothecary 

Bank  of  Mexico 

Bank  of  London  and  Mexico. . 
Mexican  Chihuahua  Bank .... 

Chihuahua  Mining  Bank 

Chihuahua  Bank 

Chihuahua  Commercial  Bank. . 

Yucateco  Bank 

Yucatan  Mercantile  Bank 

Durango  Bank 

Zacatecas  Bank 

New  Leon  Bank. . 


February,  1882. 

May,  1883. 
October,  1886. 
September,  1888. 
September,  1888. 
December,  1889. 
December,  1890. 
February,  1890. 
March,  1890. 
June  i,  1891. 
December,  1891. 
February  18,  1892 


226 


Statistical  Iftotes  on  /iDejico. 


SITUATION    OF    THE    MEXICAN    BANKS    ON    DECEMBER    31,   1894. 


NATIONAL 
BANK  OF 
MEXICO. 

BANK   OF 
LONDON   AND 
MEXICO. 

INTERNA- 
TIONAL AND 
HVPOTHECARY 
BANK    OF 
MEXICO. 

CHIHUAHUA 
MINING 
BANK. 

MEXICAN 
CHIHUAHUA 
BANK. 

CHIHUAHUA 
COM- 
MERCIAL 
BANK,  ON 
FEBRUARY 
15,  1895. 

Social  capital..  .. 
Unpaid  capital. 

$20,000,000  00 

$3,000,000  oo 

$5,000,000  oo 

$    600,000  oo 

$610,000  oo 

$600,000  oo 

Accumulated 

Reserve  funds.. 
Emergency 

1,796,100  51 

1,100,000  00 

34,500  oo 

105,000  oo 

108,600  oo 

5,000  oo 

Real  estate  

Cash    

2O  630  086  8Q 

fi  f 

Cash  in  hand  .  .  . 
Guarantee      ad- 

11,962,994  35 

8,892,749  25 

1,581,974   I9 

1,167,942   29 

281,713  84 

229,199  13 

Advances        on 
mortgages  
Debtors'        cur- 
rent accounts. 
Bills  in  circula- 
tion   

12,605,302  02 

5,318,895  69 

2,788,527  85 
1,854,417   78 

264,538   80 

94,124  oi 

786,198  62 

222,115  58 

Mortgage  bonds 
in  circulation. 

Deposits        and 
creditors'  cur- 
rent accounts  . 

21,768,776  96 

8,811,024  66 

1,642,378    91 

458,877   30 

465,519  05 

75,559  32 

CHIHUAHUA 
BANK, 
ON  JANUARY 
15,  1895. 

YUCATECO 
BANK. 

YUCATAN 
MERCANTILE 
BANK. 

DURANGO 
BANK. 

ZACATECAS 
BANK. 

NEW  LEON 
BANK. 

Social  capital...  . 

$500,000  oo 

$1,000,000  oo 

$    750,000  oo 

$500,000  oo 

$600,000  oo 

$600,000  oo 

Reserve  funds.  . 
Real  estate,  fur- 

5,666  25 

22,654    71 

I7,7l6   89 

3,396  88 

6,500  oo 

8,278  82 

Cash 

, 

Cash  in  hand... 
Guarantee      ad- 

109,113  ii 

1,346,715    63 

1,001,457  81 

603,039   90 

565,032   52 

08  106  17 

600,323  71 

Debtor's  current 
accounts  
Bills  in  circula- 

285,441  59 

172,391  75 

426,601  32 

322,927  09 

339,306  74 

118,521  26 

Deposits        and 
creditors'  cur- 
rent accounts. 

30,277  86 

313,246  10 

510,835  92 

445,667  79 

701,065  74 

191,928  26 

PUBLIC    LANDS. 

I  append  four  statements  of  the  titles  of  public  lands  issued  by  the 
Mexican  Government.  The  first  one  embraces  a  resume'  of  the  titles 
issued  without  cost,  and  under  the  act  of  December  14,  1874,  of  the 
Indian  town  lands  held  in  common,  called  in  Spanish  "  Ejidos  "  to  the 
respective  inhabitants  of  the  said  towns,  from  1877  to  1895  :  the  second 
embraces  a  resume  of  the  titles  issued  in  1894  and  1895  for  public 
lands  held  by  private  parties  as  portions  of  public  land  bought  from 
the  government  but  which  were  in  excess  of  the  respective  titles,  which 
we  call  in  Spanish  "  Demacias  "  :  the  third  one  embraces  a  resume  of 
the  titles  of  public  lands  issued  to  private  parties  in  the  years  1894 


public  Xanfcs, 


227 


and  1895  :  and  the  fourth  contains  a  resume"  of  the  titles  issued  by  the 
Mexican  Government  to  surveying  companies  for  one-third  of  the  land 
respectively  surveyed  by  them  in  1894  and  1895,  according  to  law  and 
the  respective  contracts. 

FREE    TITLES   ISSUED    UNDER    THE    ACT    OF   DECEMBER    14,    1874,   OF 

THE    INDIAN    TOWN    LANDS    TO    THE    RESPECTIVE 

INHABITANTS    FROM    1877    TO    1895. 


YEARS. 

TITLES. 

AREA. 

Hectares. 

Ares. 

Cts. 

1877  

I 

195 

72 
2 
195 
259 
1,932 
383 

774 
254 
1,524 
2,237 
1,130 
499 
i,449 
452 
791 
273 

85 
3,572 
128,144 
5,ooo 
5,629 
14,616 
6i,497 
13,068 
20,662 
2,999 
20,547 
100,627 
68,086 
6,516 
15,807 
17,709 
6,262 
6,160 

06 
7i 
94 

00 

29 
14 
56 
18 
93 
85 
73 
65 
3i 
74 
30 
59 
7i 
03 

oo 

41 

56 

oo 

69 

13 

94 

08 

12 
98 

16 
32 
86 

22 

95 
08 

49 
65 

1878  

l87Q 

i860  

1882  

1883  

1884  

1885  

1886       

1887  

1888  

l88q  . 

l8qo  . 

1801 

AUVA  

1802 

1893  

1894  

1805.  . 

Total  

12,422 

496,994 

79 

64 

TITLES    ISSUED    FOR    UNWARRANTED     POSSESSION    BY    PRIVATE    PARTIES 
OF    PUBLIC    LANDS    IN    1894    AND    1895. 


YEARS. 

Number 
of  Titles. 

AREA. 

VALUE. 

Hectares. 

Ares. 

Cts. 

iSO-l 

17 

10 

34,78i 
69,557 

98 
33 

04 

21 

$21,554  91 

20,254    12 

180=;.  . 

27 

104,339 

31 

25 

$41,809  03 

TITLES    OF    PUBLIC    LANDS    ISSUED    TO    PRIVATE    PARTIES    IN 
1894    AND    1895. 


YEARS. 

Number 
of  Titles. 

AREA. 

VALUE. 

Hectares. 

Ares. 

Cts. 

1804    . 

21 

19 

86,385 
59,265 

63 
24 

26 
84 

$140,067  72 

81,883  95 

iSoc 

40 

145,650 

88 

10 

$221,951  67 

228 


Statistical  IRotes  on  flDejico. 


TITLES   ISSUED    IN    1894    AND    1895    TO    SURVEYING    COMPANIES    FOR 
ONE-THIRD    OF    THE   LAND    SURVEYED    BY    THEM. 


YEARS. 

Number 
of  Titles. 

AREA. 

Hectares. 

Ares. 

Cts. 

32 
29 

484,257 
243,576 

30 
ii 

70 
81 

I  So*.  . 

61 

727,833 

42 

51 

EDUCATION. 

The  following  official  data  received  by  the  Census  Bureau  of  the 
Mexican  Government  contains  the  number  of  schools  in  the  different 
States  of  Mexico,  supported  by  the  Federal,  State,  and  municipal  ad- 
ministrations, and  the  number  of  students  attending  the  same.  That 
statement  does  not  include  the  States  of  Mexico  and  Veracruz,  which 
are  among  those  having  the  largest  number  of  schools  and  attendance. 

I  also  append  a  statement  of  the  number  of  schools  supported  by 
private  parties,  with  the  number  of  pupils  attending  the  same  and 
their  cost ;  and  finally  a  detailed  statement  of  the  public  libraries  ex- 
isting in  Mexico,  and  newspapers  published  in  the  country,  taken  from 
the  publication  of  the  Census  Bureau  in  1895. 

NEWSPAPERS   PUBLISHED    IN    MEXICO   IN    1895. 


Aguascalientes 10 

Campeche    4 

Chiapas 4 

Chihuahua 19 

Coahuila 6 

Colima 13 

Durango 7 

Federal  District,  City  of  Mexico 115 

Guanajuato 14 

Guerrero 6 

Hidalgo 3 

Jalisco 43 

Lower  California  (Territory) 5 

Mexico ii 

Michoacan 30 

Morelos 5 


New  Leon 8 

Oaxaca 5 

Puebla 17 

Queretaro i 

San  Luis  Potosi 6 

Sinaloa 14 

Sonora 12 

Tabasco 14 

Tamaulipas 20 

Territory  of  Tepic 6 

Tlaxcala 2 

Veracruz 24 

Yucatan 18 

Zacatecas 12 

Total 454 


These  are  published  in  several  languages,  namely  : 

English 12       German I 

French 2       Spanish 439 


Total. 


Dailies 44 

Semi-weekly 33 

Tri-weekly 5 

Weekly 185 

Semi-monthly 79 

Monthly 87 


454 

Bi-monthly 3 

Quarterly 5 

early 3 

Unknown 10 

Total 454 


229 


•JEUOIS 


•AJBpuooag 


CO  M    M    CO  tx^O    O    O  fO  IO  O  IO  H    HOO    04    txO    01    M    t*»O*MOO    in  N    HOO    H 
•<-t^C»>«*-t-.M    H    MVO    M    000    N    H    moo    M   5j-  invo    f»  M    er>  N   «    Ch  Oi  N    H 

M  HUH    fO«    1O  •<<•««     C«VO     MMfO«M  MNfO^N 


>O*«HVOO       VOMC4         Oi 

M          w         »^ 


'S3X3S  tpOg 


300^. 


1 


*  :  S  2"S 


H 

si 

11 


•S3X3S  ipog 


t 


:  S3  S3 

:HH 


in  i 


230 


Statistical  "Rotes  on  /ftejico. 


9 

i 

§ 


Sri 

u 

*<! 
i§ 

Q  D 
M  Q 


2 

Q 
«    . 


•uop 

-BUIUreX3 

2u\ssBd 


•SJB3.C 
Si    J3AQ 


OJ  01  UIOljJ 


03  S  uiojji 


•SJB3A" 
SJ3AQ 


•pnox 


•sapH 


•satBj\[ 


t^OWVO  WQHOO"!  rOOO          t^  tv  M    ON  t^  «    H  OOO    >O>O    IN  OO  \ 

cT  H   tCi-T        t^  u^vo"  M"  jf'O"  ^        tC  r?)  fT  fT  jjoo"  CO        4  oo"  cT  tj"  ro  H" 


M    fOCOt^O    b    lOt^O^^  OOO    ^  fn  S  VO  VO    01    -^  O^CO    t^  CO 

oo__  »o  q.  tx  M^  5_  H_  tvoo^  «,  t  fQ  10  rooo       q;  <N^OO_  IN^OO^  tx  oj 
txvcToo'  cT  tCoo'  t^  o^  co  o*  t^  rooo"  ^vo"      10  ^  cTvo"  •<?  cT  H" 


t  "2  o,00. 


O-  «o\O  to 
wt^-^t-ro 
Mroo 


ONtNO*1-" 

t-.  t^  M  M 


Or'XMt^NCOinN  •  • 

•<»•  tn  -  •«j-'o  vo  oo  oo  •  • 
nmroMoo^o  o 

o   c   N"  cT  i-T  I  ; 


N  -p>  •-  ci  O  vo  ro  M  o  oo  *  O.  *• 
o  p^  rooo_  «o  c^  r^  o^  <N^  o;  »o  i>.c 
<s"  ro  006"  toco"  ro  tCvo'  t^  O  >o 


t-'vovocom 
o  10  o>  M  M 


0)iOt^Mioiorot^*-<         COONO   rt-vo  OO   O>  >O  tx  Tt-  tx  O 
r>  0  ^  O  •*  ro  «ovo^  M^       «.  O,  T  "2^,  <^!0<i.^l  *  f?'*3  N 


H  »ovd"  -06  w 

WMMMHMrO 


HtN.MVOrxOro 


t>  --  ro  «  •«  ^O  •«    1000  ro 


moo  M 
O  >ovO 
Mr>ro 


M    tx\O    OOO  OO    ro  tx  IOCO    OMON^-MrO-^-MMMON 

H  «j  ft  «  «  H  S  q*;  S  8;  S  |p SiJ  «  « "8  »  S  8  I? 


o  4-O  M 

M     M     (N     !N 


^o:^:?;^^^.^  <N^  ^  q.  t^.  M^  (I  a  q.  q\  ^oo_  10  «ovo 
cf  cT  (N'OO'VO'     vo'  -^  10  ^  rT  H~OO~  -f  •*      cT  ro  ^oo"  o>  H" 


OOQM^rO^M-MC4NO»VCMMOMVOOWrONHlOO 

M    ON^ONM    O    rOM    ONOO    OOOOOOOMVOO    lOVO    O    ^"  t^  Is- 

N,  ^°°.  ^  *i  ^  >-,vo,  t  fi.00-00,al  Vs*!  °^  *i  l^! CT,  ^  *t  *°  M 

•<f  co  10  M'  cT  •<?  o"  >£  o  d-vo"  tf  O  *><f  +  &l? 


- 

M    <N    - 


t          o 

-*oo    rO 


t^  -*v 


icooo". 


•^•O    W    w    O    Ix-^-txtxcOM    H    H    O»fOrO  u^VO    CO  O    IOVO  VO  VO    HI  OO   ^  H    O 

^t^~°  t«  «^«H  t::8R.S%^R?SKS.l?S8 


-|| 


i£S     H 
ill 

ill 


B&ucation. 


231 


Q« 


a  2 

§i 


TWU 


•S3X3S  qjog 


•S3X3S  l{JOg 


•saxss  qjog 


COM' 


o« 

HifO 
MQ 


0)     •     •   M   in 


<v§  31  :  2^ 


i  c»5  cT 


COH' 


8 


H       •     M     O^COH     O 


^ 


?SJ? 


H  co  os  5;^  ^oo  ^H  oroo  o;^  .  cjoooo  O«VOK  «H 


232 


Statistical  naotes  on  /IDejico. 


5    a 
g    § 


IUM  ATTENDA 
RING  THE  YE 


J3AQ 


OJ  OI  UIOJjJ 


o?  S  raojj 


•peuois 

-S9JOJJ 


•Ajepuooag 


JSS.8 

PI     M 


CO  w  »O 
CO  tx  •* 
N  10  M^ 

ef  (4" 


S5S 


P8R 


0,00    « 


" 


M     O*  ^  »0 

M_  &;  0^00 
pTotf  CO 


JS9 


o«p) 


^oo  vo  'm  lo 


O    >OOO    O>00    O>  fO  M    tN.  10  IO  •*£ 

M      txVO^O^O-^M 


VO    rv  N    p)    10  10 


,  , 

N          CO  H    O^  CO 


N    N    M    tN. 

t  M,°°,  <* 

PI    10  M     CO 


•ISI- 


10  o  t>.  OMO  covo  r^  co      ^i- 

PI  \O     •*  M     •*•  O>  *VO     H  Tj- 

OOCOPl^-rOPlOO  t^ 


o:rt- 
das  "  S?J>8  §-  g  «-^^  §  fil  §11  811 

lli  2  S3  §.g.a-g  S  5  g-g  J3^  ?£  6  g  8  g^'S 

'-'-':!0C 


•  C        in 

i|  1 

:  §    H 


public  ^libraries. 


233 


ij 


rf 
O^ 


mONO     -^ 

ir>inN»D-O 
to  CO  CO  ^*    •   10 


M         xr>  o  O  N 


O  r- 1  .        .         . 

8.:  :  "I:    | 


o       ^--^-rO 
U       U  U       U 


234 


Statistical  iRotes  on 


i           ' 

c 

1          1 

c 

estate  of  deceased  persons. 
Is. 
itions. 

-8J 

C  'X! 

o^'_            §  

*  ssi- 

•S    3    O 

|N  

•a-s      -g 

<U    0)                         o 

e'5^ 

g&3 

-  -  SsS'g- 

Ill  

'S*C  «  

fe  c/5             <n 

-       "        M     0     &,- 

«frL>C/3 

,5  &2  

Sc/3c/} 

•OO        OiovnmOu^OOmo^rfTj-MdcaeiO^t1 

*2£    88 

$&  :••:::  : 

.    O  CO          O 

.     M                        M 

CO           CO 

M       ....... 

*^4 

| 

r-^OOoo        Qooor^como  f^O  O  »n  rj-o  t^  O  *f>  N 
wO'^-c^        OcocoNMWcor^MMMO  moo  o  N  O 

s£!  §§ 

eoOco   owvnwooo 

COO    *J-CO<N    <N    u-)tT>O 

cnoco       u->acOTi-o 

1 

Cl    M    <N    N                                                                                                             CO 

M                                                                                                                                                          M 

"  * 

t>»  w                        co  m 

1 

X 

::::::::  g>  :::::::::  t  :  :  & 

a- 

in 

s  §  •  •  ts 

•:;•:;;;;  ;^;  ;;;:  ;0::o;  ;| 

:  0-Sj  :g  :  :  ^Z.  :  :  :  :  :  c  g-  :•»  :|'S 

•       .     cj       ...... 

LifcRARiE 

Ha'J 

c3    £    <U  -     „      0 

£  3  o-  *  *f 

I  j  S  fj   1,53   :  g*  : 

ttfBLie 

•    •    •  rt    

i  ill  II  sMfiM;  liiiilii 

S  :  :  ^  :::::::::::::::::: 
g  :  :  g  .I:::::::::::::  j  :  : 

.  <u    .    .' 

•S  :2^  ::::::      :  j  :  :  :  :      :-S  i  : 

:  :  :•©  :,2 

••4 

.sal's  ::::.::::§:::::  :S  :  : 

p^    V    6     CB      .                                                       vrt^^                                        HH 

•  -  :43    <-> 

g  -X     >~>!J3       •     &H                                              ^^  OH                                      t£3     CLi 

^^SS-^g             "  -g  s  Sg" 

*i  .2  -ts  "o  ^  (2                           <u                          'G  ^2 

<J  C/3  tJ  C/3  C/2  S                                     CQ  g                               c/3  <=5 

111! 

Illlllll! 

|o  :::::::::::::::::::: 

;  ;B;  ;  ;  : 

c    • 
':::::§: 

•o  -y  S  M  o  8    '    

8- 

.     -     J                            0    g 

Illlil:  ^  =  :  :  =  :  =  =  -  =  =  =  ;  •- 

„    .     o 

i 

^H                                         ^           ^ 
S                                         <H    O 

public  ^libraries. 


235 


M 

1 

O                                                                      TJ 

M            T3 

oo^                              *       .3 

•5    ^c:                               i5»       « 

CS  Z       <U    3                                                                     <U      .          3            . 

,   §    £"    ^  -s-s..  ^    ^  _  . 

G 

S 

-^  -3  s,  §  ^§-  &  as  s  s  s 

•S       .     2  "                           rt                          N  "*"        'o        v<-1 

"1            1"     1 

"o                    ^           "c 

•1 

*      CL,'    'o    *        S  "    "     ""      sS*     "*     "    *§  B  "      S         ^  -     -     -     - 

c/2      Pu  §      c^               i  —  »c/2               H^>;^      S      OQ 

P->              -2        *2 

C/3                         C/3              S 

8 

McoOOm       ^O>r^    O--OO     

* 

M                                          04                      ..                      

:  :  t^           :  o 

Q 

C4                                          -                                                                        M    t* 

GO  ^"  en  0s!  O  ^*  cn  o  O        r^* 
cT       rf           ci"  cT 

: 

1  i'll-sililii  j|  lUULliH; 

.  Puebla  

•  •  •  g  M  -.PL,  •  o     •  -w    •»*::§:::;:: 

:    :  c  8  §  2.2  G^       3  S,g-   >  §42  9-^J  «    I    :    :^ 
8|i  ||5  §  |:    ||i"   |  §1  Sill  ^  '    '1 

|        :S    :  o    :  S  o 

f-t          ^[>^pL(^HtsJ^          J 

::::-«:::::§:::::::::::::: 

•     •     •     •  'o     «      *     '    en     .     .     . 

Palafoxiana  

:  JJ|*JP|     j  jllali    ||  :  il^JI^I 

S)g0'o)caU                           S^^NS            N^^Wfe^^fecS 

2rt.ti2S'-'<u          o^°?J'7^sS3^a4G,i  SH-|-S 
^sS^^iES^   :    oo-o^gS^^d'sSSoSg^ 

2  :  :?  1  -:  i 

! 

G  Puia  **'3  rt^a- 

(UiUSScSSj-iS-             J^ 

MUhHUWE-'eu           S 

I   G     . 

eJ 

i  i!  i  ijp  i  I  ;  HJ  :!  ^  

"^jod'"        "°      "^      132 

s  ^ 

c               3     u-g 

rt                                  0)            )M    >-» 

0) 

3 

dill'  :  :  S    H    P! 

1s  -  -  -    8      ^H 

S                           d         0 

>^                   N      i-J 

I 


236 


Statistical  IRotes  on  /iDejico* 


•^ 

C<                                                 N   w   N            \OH\OMHH                  M 

S 

™*ad«0 

'OJ9  'S3JU  'SJpUq 

•sui3  UOM03 

h?  ::::::::::::  M  ::::::::::::-::     : 

0 

5- 

o 

0 

M 

% 

0 
O 

* 

w 

g 

o 

g 

EH 

•AJ9HOJ 
-3|DBJO  pUB  92[B3 

VO      M      

tx 

to 

H 

g 

K 

H 

i/3 

(4 

5 

•oooieqox 

8  :::::::*    ^^  :::::::::::::  :^°  ::    « 

* 

F  FACTO 

s 

MMARY  0 

•sjDnp 
-Old    |BOiui9q3 

S  i  i  i  i  i  i  i  i  i  iM  i  i  i  5  i  i  i  i  i  i  i  i  i  i  i  i  i 

tD 
tf) 

•»9g 

to 



•iBDzawr 

.      .      .      .•*••      'MtOHQiO^      •    *  *  fO  tO    •  *O    •*«    •*  N    t^    •          fO^O 

VO 

: 

« 

•Apuwg 

QSffff£l«&SH^S^^&«a  * 

1 

•SIUUI  U9T 

•    • 

-TOOMpUBUOMOO 

H                                                                                                 H       •                    M 

rt 

a 

STATES. 

:  :      ::::::::     ::::::::     :::::::  :u 
tJ  £        :           •:•'::  '•     ':"§           •             ^ 

"rt 

1 

Bavrtgatton.  237 

MANUFACTURING    ESTABLISHMENTS   IN    MEXICO   IN    1893. 

I  take  from  Les  Finances  des  Etats-  Unis  Mexicains  of  Mr.  Prosper 
Gloner  the  following  table,  which  purports  to  give  the  number  of  some 
of  the  manufacturing  establishments  in  Mexico  during  the  year  1893. 
Mr.  Gloner  acknowledges  that  his  table  is  very  deficient,  as  he  says  in 
a  note  that  appears  at  the  foot  of  it  that  he  failed  to  receive  the  data 
from  117  districts  in  different  states  of  Mexico,  and  that  besides  the 
manufacturing  establishments  mentioned  in  his  table  there  are  in  the 
City  of  Mexico  the  following  :  (See  page  236.) 

Carriages  and  wagons 1 1 

Wax  works 28 

Agricultural  implements 9 

Wall  paper i 

Coloring  substances 2 

Mineral  and  soda-waters 4 

Carriage  varnishes 2 

Jewelry  boxes,  etc 9 

Mucilage  and  paste 1 1 

Card-board 6 

Scientific  instruments I 

Playing  cards i 

Pianos,  organs,  and  harmonicas 4 

Passementeries 6 

Type  foundries i 

Gold  and  silver  ribbons 2 

Perfumeries 6 

Hats 49 

Musical  instruments , 6 


Total 159 

NAVIGATION. 

The  total  number  of  vessels,  both  steamers  and  sailing  vessels, 
which  arrived  at  and  departed  from  Mexican  ports  during  the  year 
1895,  appears  in  the  following  statement. 

I  also  append  a  statement  showing  the  number  of  passengers  who 
arrived  in  and  departed  from  Mexico  by  sea  and  rail  during  the  year 
1895,  mentioning  both  their  nationality  and  the  port  of  their  arrival. 
The  number  appears  exceedingly  small  when  compared  with  the  very 
large  number  coming  from  Europe  to  the  United  States  ;  but  I  feel  sure 
that  before  long  we  will  have  a  large  immigration. 


238 


Statistical  Ittotes  on 


00 


H 

"*7 


II 


MlOHfOH 


^X^^iS; 

vo  H"  *  H" 


-vS: 

OMOtx. 


£,£?»     .VO 

»ocn 


II 


II 


tX-NVO    JOXON 


I  VO    ^-  CO  C*    1O  tOOO    IO  M    •^> 

i  ioo>roH\o  -^-M  ioo>rt- 

rvo"    -^  H"   vo" 


fTJTt-M 


^~; 


Ol-i-^- 
ro  <S   •* 


vOtv 
OH 
t  m 


OVT»- 
TfN 


£8 


vO 
N 
cr> 


^t>« 
OO^ISIN 
H  »ooo  M 


8SS  8  8 
>V8S.^ 

i  r*^  10  oN 

.VO"    tC   M*( 

i  ro       N 


tC  pT 


«  vo  ^  10  M   iovo   M   o 
rj-vo  HHrorOMM 


10  M   iovo   M   o   N   IH  oo  >o  t^ 


vo  vo^OODTj-rO 
NroroO 


I!!  H 


IRavigatioru 


239 


o 

H     O     H     ON                                  H                           1C 

£00 

24,193 

IN  BALLAST 

1 

S>  8  M  ^S  °5-  in  ON      o             o"  en  (M  5-  m 
ro  ro  O^  O^  in  t^vo        O^            •*•  ej.  H»_  N  ON 

•3-  M 

$ 

11 

O-glCOVO^MM            ON                  MM«H« 
O    N 

1 

o 

If?    *&V 

I 

I 

I 

llll    ilillli 

1 

3 

H 

jj§-s        a«-J5- 

cT 

cT 

VC? 

2 

SE 

8 

U 

|5g  :  S     "'H^I     §,11-  ^^ 

oo"  «"  1                        ^  " 

i? 

AILING  VESSE 

c 
o 

H 

mvo    •  oo       m  ONNO  H  N       t-~  t^  O  •*•  in 
ON  N     •   0)         txNO  ONVO^  CTJ        "^  fO  r^  04   ON. 

o  in  I                        m          MM 

1 
f 

4-3 

>  & 

|S|-     "     "SS    8.S5- 

8 

6 

CJ 

|pf      -51^1 

PC 

s 

.   c 

inwooroo                 OOOOOM 
S^mMroin               ONt^misM 

1 

H 

H 

P-K            SfS-iTS, 

cf 

11 

Tj-  5-                                                                                M 

ef 

2 

to 

M 

g 

O 

msy?^w*s 

110,494 

CQ 
Z 

n 

C 

<SS<S8>8£^8388S'S/5.<B-8 

0 

1 

H 

CO    IO                                                                         ^ 

in 

E- 

11 

§r^:^:^:: 

in 

TRIES. 

::::::::::::      :  :  : 

I 

z 

8 

H 

to 

ON 

00 


o 

H 

10 

CO 
00 


GO  0 

" 


..  . 

in  m  m  m  m 


\o  t^vo  m  ir.o 
oco  t^  o^  10 
roo  o  o*  o 


oo"oo  co"  8> 


O  inoo  o>  • 

^vs°| 

in  in  in  in  i 


-^  in  in  in  in 


t^oo  ON  Q^ 

00  00  00  OO 


mvo  t^oo  ON 

00  00  00 


240 


Statistical  motes  on 


•SUOflBU  JSlpO 
•JOpBAJBg 

•umiSpg 

rs 

A 

HEY  COME  FROM. 

•BOrjJ  BJS03 
•AUBUIJ3£) 

::::::::§ 

M 

::::::::::: 

H 

' 

•^u^no 

::::::  °°  :  & 

8 

H     •     •  Oi    •  «     •  10    •  VO     • 

V? 

o\ 

•p.** 

S 

£ 
§ 

r. 

00 

M 

•sajBig  P^Jiufl 

«        J?|J&»6 

§ 

58S£"£>^°-J> 

I 

EXICAN  PORTS  IN 

•aiBdg 

-uorpsu  iaqjQ 
•suBiquioi03 

•s^anj, 

•suBujsny 

M      .    Q 

§: 

2 

M 

— 

£   M. 

3 

& 

NATIONALITY. 

•streifBji 
•asaaiqQ 

ii!"'°s*Mf 

*tN             O^ 

•:::-Sf    » 

* 

I 

«" 

•s 

PACIFIC  PORTS. 

IIlH****^** 

CO    0 

ro 
tx 

fx 

•H 

•o 

•SOBUU30 

:       "     "S    J 

% 

g    jcoo       co 

sr 

w 

•qou^ 

H                    «            t^  CO          IO 

t 

:«co^    « 

S 

< 

OH 

•HSR3U3 

H    M  VO  OO            jj 

M     S 

s> 

M 

CO  *  CH    M                              CO         O 

X 

% 

•suBntqO 

IO 

H 

'3 

P^ 

•nmuamy 

H           w      10  tt°°  *ft 

§ 

OHOOOHtOHOOM          t-, 
CO 

VO 

.2 

•SUBDIX3IM 

:M     w     S^jg- 

CO 

S  j«g-    «     J«^g 

S 

•SJ9 

SuassEd 
fO  jaquinu  ^Bjo^ 

"  M    ^JJ^g- 

§ 

RJS^-IP^S^ 

1 

i 

liiijyini 

T3 

S 

H 

sliiilaii 

1 

241 


•SUOI18U  «q4Q 


•uredg 


SS??  I    € 


•suBujsny 


•screissn-jj 


•qsiusdg 


•suuouauiy 


jo  jaquinu  pjox 


£ 


oag  rt'O  o-  0  : 

•O  U  U   KI^M   «1  O  fi  3 


to2"5>  I  £ 
•*      tx 


•<•  M     M    »O 


* 


!!|l 

I^-I    ICJ 


:;f:4Il:i      3 

« 


242 


Statistical  Motes  on 


•SUOIJBU  JsqjQ 

%« 

vS 

^ 

UOpBAJBg 

9 

? 

5 

•mn*pa 

* 

" 

* 

•tiqmoro 

i 

i 

a 

•BDIH^SOO 

« 

"  1 

« 

§ 

•*I*'I 

H 

H 

« 

3 

-  ! 

ill! 

:       o 

i 

1  ?|S| 

< 

•AnniUaO 

iar 

8 

o 

•«*• 

* 

"i  Mi 

Q 

•BlBu»,Bn0 

J8 

08 

CO 

§ 

" 

RS| 

^cocf 

« 

L 

•mSPoWl 

P 

0?S 

f 

° 

5 

i 

c 

;     .    « 

•uredg 

14 

1 

! 

1 

m     13 

03          rt 

-UOUBU  iaqjQ 

OO  ro 

2" 

K 

; 

1 

^    8, 

•suBiqmopo 

COM 

* 

« 

c    "8 

•O      JO 
B       73 

H  OO 

5? 

tv 

: 

"~*      fe 

u>        " 

SI1J   X 

2     & 

0         P. 

•SuBU,snV 

<N    O 

B 

« 

i 

n 

0.        V 

£  -g 

•SSIMS 

^ 

s, 

8 

• 

IH         13 

Jl     S 

•s  a 

ti    "2 

•suBtssn'g 

:« 

M 

N 

•5 

s 

OO 

1    1 
"2     « 

S,  I 

E 

•qsiuudg 

cT  «" 

| 

1 

0? 

ill 

fii 

M  boa 

s   S 

•8     S1 
I     S! 

1  1 

"8    1 

3 

•smrROi 

3£ 

00 

O 

-IS 
=-n£ 

11^ 

IH           Oj 
S           ft 

vt       a 

fi    1 

o 

•3S3utqD 

^ 

5- 

OO 

Hi 

"  "O  o 

•e-gj 

^S3 

S     S 

?  * 

S  s 

M    « 

•SUBU1J9Q 

SS 

CO 
CO 

s 

ll-a 

8.S* 

5*3  -3 

rtCi  C 

1  ^ 

S.    8 

B        £ 

npo^j 

%5 

i 

1 

a*i 

«-.2 

•SS? 

1  1 

1 

T 

1 
3 

»•     8 
o     g 

•i  sirSuTi 

o'S 

1 

£ 

'dss 

S-sfi 

™    ta 
o    X     « 

c 

•3     f 

5    a 

"3     ^ 

I  .1      a. 

CO  M 

e'g« 

<s5Ji 

H    O     t 

..-I 

3      o 

•suBinqo 

C-l       • 

2 

H 

u^ 

V 

x 

1 

i 

Li 

i 

"      « 

x 

H    Q 

•SUBOIJSUIV 

f- 

1 

t> 

JD 

^2 

5 
j 

1 

i; 
>> 

J 

| 

—  '»« 

1C 

! 

M 

OO 

i" 

f  = 

j 

i 
i 

1 

1 

•o 

'SK 

Susssiid 
jo  jaquinu  pjox 

££ 

i 

o 

\ 

&-  - 

1 

i  s 

\ 
i 
i 

Arrived  
Departed  

I 

^ 

2 

c 

P 

- 

Navigation, 


243 


VESSELS    ARRIVED    AT    AND    DEPARTED    FROM    MEXICAN  PORTS   DURING 
THE    FISCAL    YEARS    1894-95    TO    1895-96. 


ARRIVED. 

DEPARTED. 

Steamers. 

Sailing  vessels. 

Steamers. 

Sailing  vessels. 

Ves- 
sels. 

Ton- 
nage. 

Ves- 
sels. 

Ton- 
nage. 

Ves- 
sels. 

Ton- 
nage. 

Ves- 
sels. 

Ton- 
nage. 

Total  navigation  in  the  fiscal 

4,078 
4,47i 

3,083,050 
3,300,444 

5,497 
5,723 

345,923 
395,041 

3,399 
4,378 

3,026,964 
3,242,711 

5,566 
5,856 

332,720 
390,765 

Total  navigation  in  the  fiscal 
year  1895-1896  

393 

217,394 

226 

49,118 

979 

215,747 

290 

58,045 

AGRICULTURAL    PRODUCTS. 

I  take  from  the  Anuario  Estadistico  de  la  Republica  Mexicana  of  1895 
the  following  table,  which  gives  the  total  production  of  some  of  our 
agricultural  staples,  although  I  feel  perfectly  satisfied  that  they  are 
very  much  under-rated  in  said  table,  because  of  the  difficulty  in  obtain- 
ing complete  data  about  our  agricultural  productions,  both  for  want  of 
a  proper  machinery  to  collect  it,  and  because  manufacturers  conceal 
the  extent  of  these  products  for  the  purpose  of  avoiding  taxation.  I 
think  if  the  figures  in  said  table  are  duplicated  they  will  be  nearer 
the  true  production. 

RESUME"  OF  AGRICULTURAL  PRODUCTS  IN  MEXICO. 


ARTICLES. 

BUSHELS. 

POUNDS  AND 
OTHER    MEASURES. 

VALUE. 

Cereals  : 
Rice  

27,174,320  59 

$   1,400,299  40 

Barley 

A   702  2^Q 

•i  c87  682  65 

Indian  corn 

71  QOO  5o8 

7e  605  383   21 

Wheat       

IO  O34.  "328 

I"?,  273.7QO   5O 

Leguminous  : 
Chickling  vetch  (Arvejon) 

2CT  ''qo 

•aaft  771   40 

Beans   

4.  3IQ  8*34. 

7,260,123   25 

Chick-peas 

774  ^51 

932  608   60 

Lima  beans 

c6l  I5Q 

624.  53O  22 

Lentils   

34.  12^ 

64,44.1    25 

Root  plants  : 
Sweet  potatoes 

2  om  8^4. 

8  Co  461    5O 

Huacamote  .  . 

2^  Q3Q 

108,348   82 

Potatoes  

29,472,894  45 

879,430   15 

Solanaceous  : 
Dried  pepper               

9,724,44*?  08 

1.  73I»857      67 

Green  pepper 

I  OO7  O4Q 

7^8  TOO   QO 

Cane  products  : 

5,924,612,232  56 

25,692,281  25 

Sugar  

316,531,239  02 

10,283,994  38 

Brown  sugar 

152  3OO  QO3    <X 

7  942,787  60 

Molasses  

12,748,079    24 

3,304,787  82 

244 


Statistical  IRotes  on  flDejico. 


ARTICLES. 

BUSHELS. 

POUNDS  AND 
OTHER    MEASURES. 

VALUE. 

Oleaginous  : 

214  460 

$144  773  OO 

Peanuts                   

qe7  e6o 

325  4I1}   OO 

60  388 

I3O  Q55   OO 

(310  Q^I.OOO  cocoa- 

Linseed..      .    . 

•3Q3   42  5 

nuts) 

3,522,789  oo 

373  115   OO 

Palma  Christ!  

CQ   46O 

83  434  OO 

20,708 

34,806  oo 

Lime-leaf  sago  

Q  068 

20  i  68  oo 

Alcohol  and  Fermented  Drinks: 

12,768  716  gals. 

5,056,474  82 

Pulque  whiskey  

270,876  gals. 

199,935  oo 

6  on  602  gals 

3.O78  372   OO 

54,  624,8'?'?  gals. 

3,562,435    O5 

Tlachique    or    unfermented 

24  013  QOI  gals 

I  294  575   OO 

Textiles  : 
Henequen  

93,427  740  04 

4,104,096  oo 

Ixtle  

9,608,026  79 

325,250  95 

78.511  486  26 

10,176,050  50 

Grape  Products  : 

•7    114.   CJQ    Q5 

l6l  372   25 

Wine  

162  816  16  gals 

146,028   70 

91,656  60  gals. 

83,724  80 

Dyeing  Plants  : 

2QQ  761  56 

285,530  oo 

Brazil  

632,135  85 

64,795  oo 

Campeachy  

171,604,086  41 

2,IIO,O98    50 

Moral  

19  826  253   38 

195,300  oo 

Tanning  Plants  : 
Cascalote  

4,798,994  96 

242,070  25 

Tanning  bark  

33  036  812  04 

457,167   26 

Tropical  Plants  : 

5,346,7l8   17 

1,123,180  oo 

Coffee  

42,019,015   76 

11,565,519  28 

Tobacco...  

124  852  5Q7  60 

6.464,733   50 

119,273  60 

14,055  oo 

Vanilla  

(10,714,000  vanilla 

Gums  : 
Chewing  gum  

beans) 

3  Q96  630    32 

667,145  50 

549,865   50 

India  rubber  

1,354,851    48 

410,290  oo 

I^Q  806   Q7 

7  292   75 

Copal  gum  

21  48=1    47 

IO,3I3   55 

Medicinal  Plants  : 
Jalap  

*O  OQQ   OO 

6,945  oo 

Sarsaparilla  

1,514,331  90 

100,730  oo 

CONCLUSION. 

It  has  taken  me  a  great  deal  of  time  and  required  a  great  deal  of 
effort  to  obtain  and  prepare  the  data  contained  in  this  paper.  I  am 
sorry  I  have  not  been  able  to  make  it  more  complete  than  it  is  ;  but  I 
hope  my  article,  by  giving  a  general  and  superficial  idea  of  Mexico, 
may  promote  the  desire  to  read  other  papers  and  books  treating  on 
that  subject  in  a  fuller  and  more  complete  manner. 


ADDENDA. 

Since  this  paper  has  been  printed  the  Federal  Treasury  of  Mexico 
finished  the  accounts  of  the  fiscal  year  ended  June  30, 1897,  and  I  give 
below  the  general  results,  showing  the  total  amount  of  the  Federal 
revenues  and  expenses  during  that  year.  I  also  give  a  statement,  taken 
from  the  Statistical  Bureau  of  the  Treasury  Department  of  Mexico, 
published  since  this  paper  has  gone  to  press,  of  the  imports  and  ex- 
ports in  the  same  year,  both  by  countries  and  custom  houses,  these  two 
statements  completing  the  data  contained  in  this  paper,  and  finally 
some  data  of  the  trade  of  both  countries  during  the  first  nine  months 
of  the  present  calendar  year. 

FEDERAL    REVENUE    AND   EXPENSES    OF     MEXICO    IN    THE    FISCAL     YEAR 

1896-1897. 

RECEIPTS. 

Duties  on  imports  and  exports $23,639,580.91 

Internal  revenue 24,323,798.46 

Public  services 2,057,409.92 

Extraordinary  and  incidental 2,084,496.30 

$52,105,285.59 
Extraordinary  revenues  proceeding  from  contracts 

and  other  sources 2,819.  *7 

$52,108,104.76 
EXPENSES. 

1.  Legislative  power $     989,758.38 

2.  Executive  power 62,100.26 

3.  Judicial  power 428,687.46 

4.  Department  of  Foreign  Affairs 470,122.37 

5.  Department  of  Interior 3,354,888.95 

6.  Department  of  Justice  and  Public  Education.  2,184,556.52 

7.  Department  of  Fomento,  Colonization,  and 

Industry 611,863.83 

8.  Department    of  Communications  and  Public 

Works 5,494,593-34 

9.  Department    of    the    Treasury    and    Public 

Credit 24,218,207.75 

10.     Department  of  War  and  the  Navy 10,550,955.18 

Total $48.365,734.04 

Surplus $3,742,370.72 

245 


246 


Statistical  Botes  on 


IMPORTS   AND   EXPORTS   OF   MEXICO    BY   COUNTRIES    AND   CUSTOM 
HOUSES   IN    THE    FISCAL   YEAR    1896-97. 


COUNTRIES. 

IMPORTS. 

EXPORTS. 

CUSTOM 
HOUSES. 

IMPORTS. 

EXPORTS. 

Algiers  
Arabia         . 

$                 802 
282 

1,897 
24,833 
128,367 
479»?50 
214 
240 
3,356 
6,203 
51,357 
64,317 

Acapulco  
Altata 

$        206,275 
IOI,I59 
6,897 
175,027 
2,910,359 

4,710,415 
105,148 
246,918 

451,959 
6,863 
89,894 

24,943 
62,937 
4,693,818 
18,794 

77,395 
185,370 
1,572,568 

8,157 
944,312 

1,463,515 
15,150 
11,676 
152,643 
547,726 
231,078 
8,773,275 
14,297 
140,268 
106,494 
76,926 
14,036,136 
35,703 

$         123,481 
813,899 

8,735 
747,710 
17,929,521 

2,888,535 
285,195 
418,352 
40,307 
15,754 
1,693,767 
498,765 
430,144 
3,701,086 
420,011 
221,551 
312,987 
5,808,037 
78,609 
5,776,575 
8,443,130 
525,075 
68,114 
638,398 
3,279,390 
1,608,446 
29,952,441 
116,238 
199,367 
255,582 

1,154,313 
22,484,633 
408,346 

Argentine 
Republic.  . 
Australia.  .  .  . 
Austria  

Camargo  

Campeche.  .  .  . 
City  of  Juarez. 
City  of  Porfirio 
Diaz  

Belgium  

$      1,134,325 

Bolivia  •  .    . 

Coatzacoalcos  . 
Krontera.  ... 

Brazil  
Canada  

17 
20 

5,396 
17,675 
31,658 
53,503 

Guaymas  

Chili  

Guerrero  
Isle  of  Carmen 
La  Morita.  .  .  . 
La  Paz  

China  

Colombia.  .  .  . 
Costa  Rica.  . 

Cuba  

363 
3,614 
53,249 
10,271 
6,881,701 
4,989,082 
4,003,263 
1,  660 
46,323 

Laredo  . 

Denmark...  . 
Ecuador  .... 

EffVDt 

Las  Palomas  .  . 
Manzanillo  .  .  . 
Matamoros  .  .  . 
Mazatlan  
Mier  

England  .... 
France  

14,280,527 
1,873,522 
4,416,744 

Germany.  .  .  . 
Greece 

Progreso  .  . 

Guatemala  .  . 

1,197,247 
1,200 
57,906 

Puerto  Angel. 
Salina  Cruz.  .  . 
San  Bias  

Holland  

132,728 

3 
210,845 
184,186 
23,673 

Honduras...  . 

Sta.  Rosalia.  . 
Soconusco  .... 
Tampico  

Italy  

10,765 
1,  660 
2,110 

Taoan 

Tijuana 

i?y    

Todos  Santos. 
Tonala  

Norway  

41,670 

784 
108 
22,653 
3i,387 
452 
1,071 
902 
1,983,794 
29,078 
163,293 
3,267 
22,593,860 

33 

27,608 
i,456 

Persia 

Tuxpam 

Peru 

19,690 

Veracruz  

Portugal  .... 
Russia 

Zapaluta  

294,165 
I2,l85 

Total  

Salvador  .... 
San  Domingo 
Senegambia  . 
Spain  

1,192,328 
1  80 
720 

Sweden  
Switzerland.. 
Turkey  
United  States 
Uruguay  .... 
Venezuela  .  .  . 
Zanzibar  .... 

Total.... 

86,742,951 

$42,204,095 

$111,346,494 

$42,204,095 

$111,346,494 

A  comparison  between  the  foreign  trade  in  the  fiscal  year  1896-97 
with  the  year  before,  1895-96,  gives  the  following  results:  During 
the  year  1896-97  Mexico's  exports  increased  $6,329,592,  but  the  value 
of  the  exports  sent  to  the  United  States  increased  $7,091,256.  The 


H&fcenfca.  247 

total  of  Mexico's  imports  for  the  year  1896-97  shows  a  falling-off  of 
$49,843,  but,  notwithstanding  this  fact,  Mexico's  imports  from  the 
United  States  increased  $2,448,097.  During  the  year  England's  ex- 
ports to  Mexico  decreased  $1,023,315,  and  her  imports  from  Mexico 
show  a  loss  of  $2,186,622,  a  combined  loss  of  over  12  per  cent,  in  her 
commercial  relations  with  the  Republic.  Imports  to  Mexico  from 
France  fell  off  $1,110,101,  a  loss  of  one-sixth  of  all  France's  exports 
to  Mexico.  In  1895-96  the  United  States  imported  75.8  per  cent, 
of  the  total  exports  from  Mexico  ;  in  1896-97  American  exporters  fur- 
nished 53-J  per  cent,  of  all  that  Mexico  bought  abroad,  and,  more 
than  this,  the  United  States  took  47.67  per  cent,  of  all  that  was  ex- 
ported from  Mexico.  These  figures  sustain  the  prediction  made,  that 
any  unsettlement  or  diminution  of  Mexico's  importations  either  be- 
cause of  fluctuating  silver  or  the  increased  production  of  home  manu- 
factories would  affect  American  exporters  less  than  those  of  any  other 
country.  The  statistics  given  above  show  that  these  causes  have  affected 
them  less  than  those  of  all  the  other  countries  combined  ;  in  fact,  their 
loss  has  been  the  gain  of  the  United  States. 

TRADE   BETWEEN   MEXICO    AND    THE    UNITED    STATES  DURING    THE 
FIRST    NINE   MONTHS    OF    THE    CALENDAR    YEAR    1897. 

The  following  data,  taken  from  the  publications  of  the  Statistical 
Bureau  of  the  United  States  Treasury  Department,  shows  the  results 
of  the  trade  with  Mexico  in  the  nine  months  ended  September  30, 
1897,  as  compared  with  the  similar  period  ended  September  30,  1896. 

Mexican  Exports  to  the  United  States. — In  the  following  items  the 
first  group  of  figures  represents  the  amounts  and  values  exported  in 
the  first  nine  months  of  this  year,  and  the  second  those  of  the  similar 
period  in  1896  : 

Coffee,  30,016,967  pounds,  worth  $4,574,252  gold,  against  19,715,264 
pounds,  worth  $3,333,385.  The  much  lower  price  of  coffee  this  year 
accounts  for  the  disproportionate  valuation. 

The  people  of  the  United  States,  besides  being  Mexico's  chief  cus- 
tomers for  coffee,  are  buying  more  and  more  of  our  tobacco,  which 
they  now  know  and  appreciate  on  its  merits.  The  amount  exported  to 
the  United  States  was  600,987  pounds,  worth  in  gold  $294,536,  against 
IQ^SOS,  worth  $78,769. 

Mexico  exported,  in  the  period  under  consideration,  to  the  United 
States,  hides  and  skins  to  the  value  of  $1,534,306  gold,  against  $1,055,- 
299.  The  quantities,  respectively,  were  11,764,000  pounds,  and  7,102,- 
465  pounds.  No  diminution  of  activity  there. 

It  is  worth  noting  that  oranges  were  shipped  out  to  the  value  of 
$22,444  gold  against  $19,359. 


248  Statistical  IRotes  on 

Mexico's  great  argentiferous  lead  business  did  not  fall  behind,  the 
nine  months'  exportation  being  108,776,560  pounds,  worth  in  gold 
$1,226,525,  against  97,818,833  pounds,  worth  $949,926.  The  bulk  of 
the  American  purchase  of  lead  is  from  Mexico. 

Yucatan  is  Mexico's  henequen-growing  region,  and  the  exportation 
has  been  heavy,  standing  at  48,410  tons,  worth  in  gold  $2,889,003, 
against  35,746  tons,  worth  $2,323,585,  a  noteworthy  increase.  The 
henequen  or  sisal-grass  trade  into  the  United  States  is  overwhelmingly 
Mexican,  "  other  countries  "  furnishing  but  399  tons  in  the  first  nine 
months  of  this  year  ! 

Mexico  both  exports  and  imports  coal,  and  shipped  into  the  United 
States  85,890  tons,  worth  in  gold  $182,416,  against  52,674  tons,  worth 
$115,015. 

Logwood  exports  were  $44,028,  against  $15,250. 

Mahogany  fell  off,  being  $290,044  gold,  against  $306,715,  but  this 
trade  is  always  variable. 

Mexican  Imports  from  the  United  States. — It  is  worthy  of  note  that, 
in  spite  of  the  extraordinarily  heavy  gold  premium,  Mexico  should  be 
increasing  her  buying  abroad  of  electrical  apparatus,  the  purchase  from 
the  United  States  alone,  in  the  first  nine  months  of  this  year,  amount- 
ing to  $228,000  gold,  as  against  $200,000  in  the  same  period  last  year. 
Sewing  machines  went  in  to  the  value  of  $164,000  gold  in  the  nine- 
month  period,  against  $154,000  last  year.  Builders'  hardware  fell  off 
from  $556,600  gold  value,  in  the  first  nine  months  of  last  year,  to 
$424,000  this  year,  but  lumber  for  builders  ran  up  to  $1,079,000  gold, 
against  only  $544,000  last  year,  all  coming  from  the  United  States. 
Furniture  increased  slightly,  $141,000  gold,  against  $126,000. 

Carriages,  cars,  and  other  vehicles,  in  the  nine-months'  period, 
came  from  the  United  States  to  the  value  of  $664,000  gold,  as  com- 
pared with  $463,000  last  year.  Bicycles  amounted  to  $56,000  gold,  as 
against  $37,7oo. 

Other  importations  were  as  follows  : 

9  MOS.,  1897.  9  MOS.,  1896. 

Cotton : 

Bales 9,936  23,127 

Value *  $411, 973  *  $1,020,000 

Crude  petroleum  imports : 

Gallons 6,260,164  5,486,667 

Value *  $277,300  *  $299,422 

Refined  petroleum  : 

Gallons 734,466  588,242 

Value $136,180  $122,447 

Cotton  seed  oil : 

Gallons 1,010,580  9*2,905 

Value *  $199,000  *  $195,000 

*Gold. 


249 

APPENDIX. 

In  the  preceding  paper  I  stated  that  I  would  give  as  an  appendix 
some  data  concerning  several  subjects  treated  in  the  same,  and  I  now 
append  the  documents  mentioned  ;  the  first  one  being  a  paper  pub- 
lished in  the  Bulletin  of  the  American  Geographical  Society  of  New 
York  for  March  31,  1894,  under  the  title  of  "  Mexico  a  Central 
American  State,"  the  second,  some  itineraries  of  the  principal  roads 
in  Mexico,  which  show  the  broken  surface  of  that  country,  and  the 
third  and  last,  a  paper  on  the  "  Drainage  of  the  Valley  of  Mexico," 
published  by  the  Engineering  Magazine  of  New  York,  Vol.  viii.,  No.  4, 
for  January,  1895. 

MEXICO  A  CENTRAL  AMERICAN  STATE. 

In  the  chapter  of  this  paper  entitled  "  Location,  Boundaries,  and 
Area,"  I  referred,  (page  9)  to  an  article  under  the  above  heading,  which 
I  published  in  the  Bulletin  of  the  American  Geographical  Society  of  New 
York  of  March  31,  1894,  and  offered  to  give  it  in  the  appendix.  That 
paper  is  the  following  : 

MEXICO    A    CENTRAL    AMERICAN    STATE.1 

There  is  in  this  city  a  social  gathering  of  ladies  and  gentlemen 
called  "  The  Travellers'  Club,"  meeting  weekly  during  the  winter  of 
each  year,  for  the  purpose  of  studying  a  foreign  country,  on  the  sup- 
position that  its  members  are  then  travelling  in  that  particular  country, 
and  with  that  view  papers  are  read  referring  to  the  same,  and  they  are 
illustrated  with  an  exhibition  of  views  and  objects  manufactured  in  the 
country  under  study,  and  of  everything  else  that  may  contribute  to 
impart  more  or  less  complete  information  regarding  the  place  supposed 
to  be  visited. 

During  the  winter  of  1887-88  Mexico  was  chosen  as  the  country  un- 
der study  by  the  club,  and  for  that  reason  I  received  at  the  beginning 
of  the  year  1888  an  invitation  to  attend  some  of  its  sessions,  and  to  say 
something  about  the  Republic.  I  accepted  the  invitation  to  attend 
some  session,  but  stated  to  the  invitation  committee  that,  not  having 
time  to  prepare  a  paper,  I  would  only  give  some  general  notions  on 

1  This  article  was  published  in  the  Bulletin  of  the  American  Geographical  Society 
of  New  York  of  March  31,  1894,  and  it  is  inserted  here  without  any  changes.  Al- 
though the  data  contained  in  this  article  was  published  in  the  years  1887  and  1893,  as 
it  refers  to  the  area  which  has  not  changed,  I  have  not  thought  it  necessary  to  revise 
the  same.  So  far  as  the  Mexican  States  are  concerned,  I  have  later  and  more  accu- 
rate data ;  but  the  differences  are  insignificant,  and  it  is  not  worth  while  to  notice 
them.  As  regards  the  population,  the  increase  has  been  proportionate  ;  in  respect  to 
all  the  countries  mentioned  in  this  article  there  is  no  marked  change  in  the  general 
proportions. 


250  Statistical  IRotes  on 

Mexico,  in  a  conversational  form,  and  would  be  glad  to  answer  any 
question  that  might  be  put  to  me  by  those  attending  the  meeting  who 
felt  the  desire  to  have  further  information  and  more  details. 

Accordingly,  the  evening  of  the  i6th  of  January,  1888,  I  attended  the 
meeting  of  the  club  and  spoke  for  about  an  hour  on  the  geographical 
position  of  Mexico,  its  physical  conditions,  its  natural  resources,  and 
other  matters  connected  with  the  situation  of  the  country,  but  carefully 
avoiding  to  touch  any  political  question,  especially  of  an  international 
character. 

With  a  view  to  leave  a  record  of  what  I  intended  to  say,  I  had  with 
me  a  stenographer  to  take  down  what  I  would  say,  and  although  his 
notes  were  not  complete,  by  using  them,  and  those  taken  by  reporters, 
some  extracts  of  my  conversation  were  prepared  and  published  the 
next  morning. 

Speaking  of  the  geographical  position  of  Mexico,  I  naturally  stated, 
what  is  a  fact,  although  not  generally  realized,  that  while  the  main 
portion  of  the  territory  of  Mexico  is  located  in  North  America  it 
occupies  a  considerable  portion  of  Central  America,  although  politically 
it  is  considered  as  wholly  situated  in  North  America.  On  this  subject 
I  made  the  following  remarks,  taken  from  the  newspapers,  but  which 
were  correct: 

"  The  isthmus  of  Panama  divides  the  New  World  into  two  continents,  one  sit- 
uated on  the  northern  and  the  other  on  the  southern  hemisphere,  but  as  the  position 
of  that  isthmus  does  not  correspond  with  the  line  of  the  equator,  and  lies  considerably 
north  of  that  line,  a  large  portion  of  South  America  proper  lies  in  the  boreal  hemi- 
sphere. North  America  proper  is  divided  by  the  isthmus  of  Tehauntepec  in  two  sub- 
divisions— Central  America  from  Panama  to  Tehauntepec,  and  North  America  from 
Tehauntepec  to  the  North  Pole. 

"Central  America  in  its  present  political  organization  includes  the  following 
States  :  Guatemala,  Salvador,  Honduras,  Nicaragua,  and  Costa  Rica,  but  from  a  geo- 
graphical standpoint  it  has  a  much  larger  area,  since  it  begins  at  the  isthmus  of  Panama 
and  ends  at  the  isthmus  of  Tehuantepec.  Taking  this  view,  Mexico  exercises  sov- 
ereignty over  a  large  portion  of  Central  America,  larger  still  than  any  single  State  of 
the  five  which  are  generally  considered  as  the  only  components  of  the  same,  and 
representing  a  third  of  the  total  territorial  area  of  Central  America. 

"  The  Mexican  State  of  Chiapas  and  a  part  of  Oaxaca,  on  the  Pacific  ;  of  Yuca- 
tan, Campeche,  and  Tabasco,  and  a  portion  of  the  State  of  Vera  Cruz  on  the  Gulf  of 
Mexico,  are  situated  in  geographical  Central  America. 

"  The  following  resume"  of  the  territorial  area  and  population  of  the  several  sec- 
tions of  Central  America,  taken  from  the  Statesman's  Year  Book,  London,  1887,  shows 
that  Mexico  is  a  Central  American  as  well  as  a  North  American  power : 

FIVE   STATES   OF   CENTRAL  AMERICA. 

Area  in  sq.  miles.       Population. 

Guatemala 46,800  1,224,602 

Salvador 7,225  634,120 

Honduras 46,400  458,000 

Nicaragua 49, 500  275,815 

Costa  Rica 23,200  213,785 

Total..  173,125  2,806,322 


flftejfco  anfc  Central  Hmerfca. 


25* 


MEXICO. 

State.  Area  in  sq.  miles. 

Chiapas 16,048 

Oaxaca  (one-fifth) 6,718 

Yucatan 29,567 

Campeche 25,832 

Tabasco 11,815 

Vera  Cruz  (one-fourth) 6,558 

Total 96, 538 


Population. 
242,029 
152,255 
302,319 
90,413 
140,747 
145,610 

1,073,373 


This  shows  that  36  per  cent,  of  the  total  area  of  Central  America  belongs  to 
Mexico. 

In  the  foregoing  list  I  omitted  to  take  into  account  that,  besides  the  States 
referred  to,  there  are  in  Central  America  proper  the  British  Colony  of  Belize  or  British 
Honduras,  and  that  part  of  the  State  of  Panama,  in  Colombia,  which  lies  north  of  the 
isthmus  of  Panama. 

Taking  the  area  and  population  of  those  places  from  the  statistical  and  geographical 
data  published  by  the  Almanack  de  Gotha  for  1893,  and  from  some  official  information 
in  possession  of  Sefior  Doctor  Don  Manuel  M.  de  Peralta,  Costa  Rican  Minister  to 
Washington,  a  gentleman  very  well  versed  in  Central  American  affairs,  the  following 
results  are  obtained  : 


A 

rea  in  square 
miles. 

16,048 
6,718 
29,567 

25,832 
11,815 
6,558 

Oaxaca  (one-fifth) 

Yucatan  

Campeche    

Tabasco   

Veracruz  (one-fourth)  .  .  . 
Guatemala  

96,538 

48,300 
46,262 
8,135 
47,857 
24,000 
19,278 
8,300 

Honduras        

Salvador        

Costa  Rica  

Panama  (two-thirds)  
British  Honduras  

202,132 

Area  in  square 
kilometers. 

41,565 
17,400 

76,579 
66,905 
30,600 
16,986 


250,035 


523,415 


Population. 
270,000 
158,800 
330,000 

94,000 

140,747 
181,000 

1,174,547 

1,520,000 
400,000 
800,000 
320,000 
270,000 

200,000 

31.500 

3,541,500 


GEOGRAPHICAL  EXTENSION  OF  CENTRAL  AMERICA. 


Mexican  Central  America 

Five  Republics  of  Central  America... . 

British  Honduras 

Panama  (two-thirds) 


Square  miles.        Square  kilometers. 

96,538 

174,554 

8,300 

19,278 


298,670 


773,450 


The  foregoing  table  shows  that  a  little  more  than  32  per  cent,  of  the  whole  of 
Central  America,  geographically  speaking,  belongs  to  Mexico. 


252  Statistical  Hotes  on  /IDejico. 

When  those  statements  were  translated  into  Spanish  and  published 
by  Las  Novedades,  of  New  York,  in  its  issue  of  the  i8th  of  January,  1888, 
they  were  read  by  Seiior  Don  Manuel  Montufar,  Secretary  of  the 
Guatemalan  Legation  in  Washington,  who,  in  the  absence  of  the 
Minister,  Seiior  Don  Francisco  Lainfiesta,  was  acting  as  Charg6 
d' Affaires,  and  he  considered  my  statements  in  this  connection  as  a 
geographical  heresy,  and  as  an  evidence  of  the  design  of  Mexico 
against  the  several  States  of  Central  America.  His  alarm  was  so  great 
that  he  called  the  attention  of  the  other  representatives  of  the  Central 
American  States  in  Washington  to  this  incident,  in  order  to  point  out  to 
them  the  serious  dangers  which  he  foresaw  for  their  respective 
countries  on  account  of  my  views,  which  he  considered  as  more  than 
extraordinary. 

Fortunately,  one  of  them,  the  representative  of  Costa  Rica,  Senor 
Doctor  Don  Manuel  M.  de  Peralta,  had  attended  the  meeting  of  the 
Travellers'  Club  at  which  I  spoke,  and,  I  think,  Doctor  Don  Horacio 
Guzman,  the  Nicaraguan  Minister,  was  also  present,  although  I  am 
not  sure  of  this,  and  both  failed  to  see  anything  in  what  I  stated  in  this 
connection  that  was  not  a  geographical  fact,  and  that,  consequently,  it 
could  not  be  disputed ;  and  therefore  this  incident,  that  threatened  to 
assume  certain  proportions,  died  in  its  very  cradle. 

Seiior  Montufar  showed  himself  over-sensitive  at  my  remarks  when 
there  was  not  the  slightest  ground  for  such  feeling.  If  I  had  made  a 
geographical  mistake  in  averring  that  a  portion  of  the  territory  of 
Mexico  was  in  Central  America,  geographically  speaking,  I  would  be 
the  only  sufferer  by  my  mistake,  because  I  would  have  been  the  laugh- 
ing-stock of  everybody,  including  the  school-boy  studying  geography; 
and,  on  the  contrary,  if  I  had  stated  a  fact,  nobody  had  reason  to 
complain,  and  much  less  to  be  alarmed. 

My  object  in  now  mentioning  this  incident  is  to  show  the  extreme 
sensitiveness  of  some  Guatemalan  gentlemen  in  regard  to  Mexico, 
which  goes  so  far  that  they  cannot  listen  sometimes  to  indisputable 
facts  without  umbrage,  and  without  ascribing  it  to  purposes  and  designs 
against  their  country.  Fortunately  this  incident  happened  when  the 
long-pending  boundary  dispute  between  Mexico  and  Guatemala  had 
already  been  settled  for  several  years,  as,  had  it  taken  place  before, 
when  that  question  was  opened,  the  situation  would  have  been  still 
more  embarrassing  and  unpleasant. 

M.  ROMERO. 

WASHINGTON,  December  29,  1893. 


Itineraries* 


253 


MEXICAN    PROFILES. 

In  the  chapter  on  Orography  of  this  paper  (page  31)  I  stated  that  I 
would  give  some  profiles  of  the  Mexican  surface,  which  would  show  in 
an  exact  manner  the  different  altitudes  from  the  sea-level  to  the  high 
plateaus  of  the  country.  I  have  selected  for  that  purpose  the  principal 
measurements  by  railroads  built  in  Mexico,  as  they  naturally  followed 
the  easiest  ascent  and  descent,  both  from  the  coast  to  the  interior  and 
back  to  the  coast.  I  will  also  supplement  those  measurements  with 
others  made  for  wagon  roads  to  and  from  important  places. 


FROM  VERACRUZ  TO  MEXICO  BY  ORIZABA, 
BY  THE  MEXICAN  RAILWAY. 


STATIONS. 

Distance  between 
each  station. 

Distances. 

Altitudes. 

Kilom's. 

Miles. 

Kilom's. 

Miles. 

Metres. 

Feet. 

Veracruz  

15.500 
15.250 
11.250 
21.250 
12.750 
10.000 
19.750 
26.250 
20.250 
2O.25O 
6.500 
24.250 
20.500 
18.000 
17.250 
25.500 
27.000 
19.500 
15.500 
22.OOO 
11.500 
11.250 
32.500 

9-63 
9.48 
6.99 
13.21 
7.92 
6.22 
12.27 
16.52 
12.58 

12.59 
4.04 

15-07 
12.74 
11.19 

10.72 
15-84 
16.79 

12.12 

9.63 
13.67 

7.15 
6.99 
2O.2O 

0.000 

15.500 
30.750 

42.000 

63.250 

76.000 
86.000 
105.750 
132.000 
152.250 
172.500 
179.000 
203.250 
223,750 
241.750 
259.000 
284.500 
311.500 
331.000 
346.500 
368.500 
380.000 
380.000 
423.750 

0.00 

9.63 

19.11 
26.10 

39.31 
47.23 
53.45 
65.72 

82.04 

94.62 

107.21 

111.25 
126.32 

139.06 
150.25 
160.97 

176.81 

193.60 
205.72 
215.35 

229.02 

236.17 
236.17 
263.36 

1.89 
32.34 
44-77 
93,08 
340.76 
475-55 
400.77 
827.88 
1227.63 
1601.79 
2415.36 
245L79 
2430.42 
2357.32 
2373-21 
2488.06 

24H.5I 
2507.62 
2486.92 
2452.58 
2349.41 
2281.57 
2244.99 
2239.83 

6.20 

106.10 
146.89 

305.39 

1116.47 

1560.25 
1314.91 

2713.61 
4027.80 

5255.40 
7924.66 

8044.20 

7974.08 
7734.24 
7786.37 
8164.97 
7912.03 
8227.37 

8159-45 
8046.78 
7708.28 

7485.71 
7365.69 
7348.76 

Tejeria  

Pur£?a 

Soledad    

Oamaron  

Maltrata       .               

Boca  del  Monte  

San  Andres  ».. 

Soltepec  

FROM  APIZACO  TO  PUEBLA,  A  BRANCH  OF 
THE  SAME  ROAD. 


139.250 

86.54 

0.000 

0.00 

2239.83 

7348.76 

Apizaco  

16.750 

10.41 

139.250 

86.54 

2411.51 

79I2.O3 

18.250 

11.29 

156.000 

96.95 

2288.31 

75O7.82 

Panzacola  .  . 

12  OOO 

7.52 

174.250 

108.24 

2192.01 

7101.86 

Puebla  

186.250 

115.76 

2I<4  63 

7060.22 

254 


Statistical  Betes  on 


FROM  VERACRUZ  TO  MEXICO  BY  JALAP  A,  BY  THE  INTEROCEANIC  RAILWAY. 


STATIONS. 

Distance  between 
each  station. 

Distances. 

Altitudes. 

Kilom's. 

Miles. 

Kilom's. 

Miles. 

Metres. 

Feet. 

20.234 
15.200 
9.820 
21.644 
16.312 
9-78i 
15-603 
14-675 
8.558 
10.510 
14.227 
14.870 
16.569 
20.827 
29.476 
17.041 
17.064 

11.303 
14.014 

10.357 
H-344 
19.391 
7.919 
15-586 
15-231 
12.721 
24.259 
23.275 
9.302 
9.648 
15.617 

4-724 
31.209 
H-452 
9-353 
17.495 

12.58 
9-46 
6.09 
13-45 
IO.I4 
6.07 
9.70 
9.12 
5-32 
6.53 
8.84 

9-25 
10.29 

12.95 
18.31 
10.59 
10.61 
7.02 
8.71 
6-44 
7-05 
12.05 
4.92 
9-69 
9-47 
7.91 
15-05 
14.49 
5.78 

5-99 
9.71 
2.94 
19.39 
7.92 
5.19 
11.50 

o.ooo 
20.234 

35.434 
45.254 
66.898 

83.210 

92.991 
108.594 
123.269 

131.827 
142.337 
156.564 
171.434 

188.003 
208.830 

238.297 

255.338 

272.402 

283.705 
297.719 

308.076 

319.420 
338.811 
346.730 
362.316 

377.547 

390.268 

414-527 
437.802 
447.104 
456.752 
472.369 

477.093 

508.302 

519.754 
529.107 

546.602 

0.00 

12.58 
22.04 
28.13 
41.58 
51.72 

57.79 
67.49 
76.61 
81.93 
88.46 
97.30 
106.55 

116.84 

129.79 

148.10 

158.69 
169.30 
176.32 
185.03 
191.47 
198.52 
210.57 

215.49 
225.18 
234.65 
242.56 
257.61 

272.10 

277.88 
283.87 
293.58 
296.52 

315,91 

323.03 

328.22 
339.72 

2.OO 
28.60 
5.50 
24-44 
254.00 
520.70 
690.08 
941.24 

1170.44 
I336.[8 
I49O.OO 
1780.22 

2073  09 
2421.10 
2390.30 
2321.50 
2346.40 

2348.33 
2412.60 

2559.05 
2469.25 
2312.04 
2155.60 
2130.96 
2197.50 
2258.61 
2472.10 
2740.16 
2576.10 
2484.22 
2447.25 
2409.05 
2361.30 
2249.10 
2235.20 
2240.  10 
2240.00 

6.56 
93.84 
18.04 
80.  1  8 
833.36 
1708.39 
2264.12 
3088.16 
3840.15 

4383.94 
4888.62 
5840.82 
6801.70 
7943-50 
7842.44. 
7615.23 
7698.41 
7704.74 
7915.61 
8396.10 
8101.48 
7585.67 
7072.39 
6991.56 
7209.88 
7410.38 
8110.83 
8990.31 
8990-31 
8150.60 
8029.30 
7903.96 
7747.29 
7379-13 
7333.52 
7349.60 
7349.27 

Santa  Fe      

La  Antigua  

Rinconada   «              .  . 

Colorado    

El  Palmar 

Chavarrillo  

Pacho  

Talapa                   •        .    . 

San  Miguel  ...»  

Las  Vigas  

Perote           

La  Venta  

Acajete     ..        . 

Puebla  

Analco      

San  Martin  Texmelucan.  .  . 

Nanacamilpa  ....             . 

Calpulalpam  

Irolo             .    .  . 

Soapayuca  

Texcoco  

San  Vicente  .  .        

Mexico  ,  

FROM  THE  CITY  OF  MEXICO  TO  MORELOS,  A  BRANCH  OF  THE  SAME  ROAD. 


I7.4Q5 

II.  50 

O.OOO 

O  OO 

224O.OO 

734Q.27 

Los  Reyes    . 

7  OO5 

o  7*2 

17  4.Q5 

II   5O 

2240  10 

734Q  6O 

Ayotla  

9-2QO 

c  77 

24  5OO 

IS.   2T, 

224^  3O 

7-160  oo 

La  Compania  

12  9OO 

8.  02 

33.8OO 

21  OO 

2244.5O 

7364  O3 

Tenango 

10  800 

6  71 

46  7OO 

29  O2 

2^24  2O 

76^5  53 

Amecameca               

12  2OO 

7  5Q 

S.-7  TOO 

qc  70 

24.66  5O 

8OQ2  42 

22.9OO 

14.23 

69  7OO 

4-2.32 

2^24.45 

7626.33 

Nepantla  .  .  . 

26  8OO 

16  66 

92  6OO 

e-7  c  e 

1968  65 

645Q  O4 

Yecapixtla  

1  6  500 

IO  25 

IIQ  4OO 

74  21 

I57O  2O 

5151  75 

Cuautla  de  Morelos  

8.2OO 

5.IO 

135  QOO 

84  46 

I2I6.48 

3QQI  2O 

Calderon  ...      . 

14  ooo 

8  7O 

14,4.  IOO 

80  56 

1258   15 

4127  O2 

1  8  ooo 

II.  IQ 

158  ioo 

08  26 

1154,  72 

•3788  5Q 

Ticuman     . 

8  200 

5OQ 

176  ioo 

TOO  AS. 

968  22 

•2J75  60 

Tlaltizapan  

8  7OO 

e  4.1 

184  300 

114  54 

Q34  IO 

•7064.  73 

2  IOO 

I  4.1 

IQ3  OOO 

IIQ  05 

9OO  2O 

2Q53.5I 

Tojutla    

12  IOO 

7C2 

TQ5    -2.OO 

121  38 

890  64 

2Q22   15 

San  Jose       

7  600 

4.  T\ 

2O7  4OO 

128  go 

QQ2  35 

•2255  84 

Puente  de  Ixtla  

215  ooo 

133  63 

806  QQ 

2Q42.QO 

itineraries. 


FROM     PUEBLA    TO    IZUCAR   DE   MATAMOROS,    A    BRANCH    OF    THE   SAME 

ROAD. 


STATIONS. 

Distance  between 
each  station. 

Distances. 

Altitudes. 

Kilom's. 

Miles. 

Kilom's. 

Miles. 

Metres. 

Feet. 

Puebla  

7.919 

5.000 
8.QOO 
iS.IOO 
5.850 
19.150 
8.850 

10.543 

4.92 

3-ii 

5-53 
11.25 

3-64 
11.90 

5-49 
6.56 

0.000 

7.919 
12.919 
21.819 
39.919 
45.769 
64.919 

73.769 
84.412 

0.00 

4.92 
8.03 
13.56 

24.81 

28.45 
40.35 

45-  »4 
52.40 

2155.60 
2130.96 
2145.00 
2120.10 
2030.20 
1196.60 
1685.18 
1584.94 
1441.80 

7072.36 
6991.52 
7037.58 
6955.89 
6660.94 

3925.99 
5528.99 
5200.10 
4717.03 

Los  Arcos                      

Cholula  

San  Augustin      

Atlixco          i  ... 

San  Jose  Teruel  

Tatetla                 

Matamoros.  .  . 

FROM    MEXICO    TO   EL    PASO    DEL    NORTE    OR    CIUDAD    JUAREZ,  BY   THE 
CENTRAL   MEXICAN    RAILROAD. 


1  1  .  700 

7.27 

o.ooo 

o.oo 

224O.OO 

7349.32 

Tlalnepantla     ... 

c  QOO 

3  67 

I  I  .  700 

7.27 

225O.IO 

71Q2  46 

3.300 

2.05 

17.600 

IO.Q4 

2298.50 

7541.26 

6.800 

4.23 

20.900 

12.  QQ 

2253.2O 

7392.63 

Cuautitlan           .        .... 

8  100 

e.  jc 

27.700 

17.22 

2252.^0 

71QO.  11 

Teoloyucan 

10  500 

6  *2 

36  ooo 

22  17 

22m  20 

71Q2  6l 

Huehuetoca  . 

6  ooo 

q  74 

4.6  WO 

28  80 

2258  80 

741  1  OO 

Q  QOO 

6.15 

52.500 

12  63 

2248.00 

7175.57 

El  Salto  

^•y 
17.600 

10.06 

62.400 

38.78 

2162.60 

7OQ5.37 

Tula    

1-2    COO 

8  IQ 

80  ooo 

4Q  72 

2030  oo 

6660  32 

24.300 

15  10 

03.500 

58  ii 

2187.00 

7175  41 

Lena  

3.800 

2.37 

117.800 

73.21 

2471  80 

8109.84 

Marquez     .              ...» 

8  300 

c   is. 

121  6OO 

7e  eg 

24.26  50 

7061.22 

8.  ooo 

5  O4 

I2Q.QOO 

80.  71 

2341.40 

7682.00 

14.000 

8.63 

I37.9OO 

85.77 

2387.70 

7833.92 

Polotitlan         

o  200 

5.72 

151.  QOO 

04.40 

22Q2  1O 

7^2O  QI 

Cazadero  

10.900 

6.77 

l6l.IOO 

IOO.I2 

224Q.5O 

7380.  4Q 

18.600 

11.57 

I72.OOO 

106.89 

2I62.OO 

7093.40 

San  Juan  del  Rio  

jo  ,qoO 

8.26 

190.600 

118.46 

IQO5.5O 

6251.84 

Chintepec  

12  2OO 

7.CQ 

2O3.  QOO 

126.72 

I8Q4.QO 

62I7.O7 

24.4OO 

15.16 

216.100 

134.31 

1907.70 

6259.07 

Hercules                     

5  OOO 

3.  II 

240.500 

I4Q.47 

l841.  QO 

6O4Q.74 

Oueretaro  

I8.5OO 

11.50 

245.500 

152.58 

I8I3.2O 

5Q4Q.O2 

I4.5OO 

9.01 

264.000 

164.08 

1788.20 

5867.00 

Apaseo                                  .  . 

13  ooo 

8.08 

278.500 

173  OQ 

1767.40 

57Q8.75 

18.200 

11.31 

291.500 

l8l.I7 

I757.4O 

5765.94 

Guaie 

22  8OO 

14  17 

•3QQ    7OO 

IQ2  48 

1740  oo 

57O8  85 

Salamanca      

II    IOO 

6.QO 

132.5OO 

206.65 

1721.50 

5648  15 

Chico  

Q  2OO 

5.72 

343.6OO 

213.55 

1720.80 

5645.85 

Irapuato                                 .  . 

1  6  6OO 

IO.1I 

152  8OO 

2IQ  27 

1721.70 

e655.^7 

Villalobos 

13  2OO 

8.  20 

369.400 

22Q.=;8 

1746.10 

5728  87 

Silao  

ig.OOO 

11.82 

382.600 

237.78 

1776.50 

5828.61 

Trinidad 

14  2OO 

8.82 

401.600 

249  60 

1818  oo 

5Q&4.77 

Leon   

1  6  400 

10.19 

415.800 

258.42 

1785.80 

5859.12 

15.400 

9.58 

432.2OO 

286.61 

1765.00 

5790.88 

Pedrito 

I  q  700 

8.51 

447.600 

278.19 

I7Q5  OO 

^889.30 

Loma  

13.600 

8.55 

461.300 

286.70 

1890.40 

6202.31 

Lasros 

10  600 

6  5Q 

474  QOO 

2Q5  15 

1871  oo 

6138.66 

256 


Statistical  IRotes  on 


FROM    MEXICO    TO    EL    PASO    DEL   NORTE     OR    CUIDAD    JUAREZ,  BY    THE 
CENTRAL    MEXICAN    RAILROAD. — Continued. 


STATIONS. 

Distance  between 
each  station. 

Distances. 

Altitudes. 

Kilom's. 

Miles. 

Kilom's. 

Miles. 

Metres. 

Feet. 

Serrano  (Altamira)  

10.300 

24.700 

16.700 
26.400 
21.500 
30.100 
8.500 
20.500 
5.800 
9.900 
13.500 

16.100 
28.000 

15.500 

15.000 

22.100 
I3.500 
20.700 
25.800 
ig.OOO 
19.700 
21.400 
2I.9OO 
23.200 
24.000 
21.  OOO 
23.900 
15.500 
14.400 
14.300 
25.200 
16.400 
5-200 
17.700 
20.000 
24.000 
22.2OO 
22.700 
18.900 
18.500 
I4.6OO 
18.000 
21.400 
19.400 
14.700 
ig.IOO 
18.800 
19.200 
15.700 
l6.OOO 
20.400 
15.600 
I6.IOO 
7.300 
24.300 

6.77 
15.35 
10.38 
16.41 
13.36 
18.71 
5.28 
12.74 
32.20 
6.15 
8.39 

10.00 

17.41 
9.63 
9.32 
13.74 

8.39 
12.86 
16.04 
ii.  81 
12.24 
13-30 
13.61 
14.42 
14.92 
13-05 
14.85 
9.64 

8-95 
8.88 

15-67 

10.01 

3.16 
11.25 

12.43 
14.92 

13.79 
14.11 
".75 
".55 
9-07 
10.57 

12.06 
9.13 
11.87 
11.69 

n.93 
9.76 

9-94 
12.68 
9.70 

10.00 

4-54 
15.08 

485.500 
495.800 

520.500 
537-200 
563.600 
585.100 
615.200 
623.700 
644.200 
696.000 
705.900 
719.400 
735-500 
763-500 
779.000 
794.000 
816.100 
829.600 
850.300 
876.100 
895.100 
914.800 
936.200 
958.100 
981.300 
1005.300 
1026.300 
1050.200 
1065.700 
1080.100 
1094.400 
1119.600 
1136.000 
1141.200 
1158.900 
1178.900 
1202.900 
1225.100 
1247.800 
1266.700 
1285.200 
1299.800 
1317.800 
1339.200 
1358.600 
1373.300 
1392.400 
1411.200 
1430.400 
1446.  loo 
1462.100 
1482.500 
1498.100 
1514.200 
1521.500 

301-74 
308.14 

323.49 
333.87 
350.28 

363-64 
382.35 
387.63 
400.37 
432-57 
438.72 
447.11 
457.ii 
474-52 
484.15 
493-47 
507.21 
515-60 
528.46 
544.50 
556.31 
568.55 
581.85 
595.46 
609.88 
624.80 

637-85 
652.70 
662.34 
671.29 
680.17 
695-84 
705.85 
709.01 
720.26 
732.69 
747.61 
761.40 

775-51 
787.26 
798.76 
805.83 
819.02 
832.32 
844.38 
853.51 
865.38 
877.07 
889.00 
898.76 
908.70 
921.38 
931.08 
941.08 
945.62 

2015.80 
2035.00 
1844.50 
I85I.OO 
1878.60 
1884.00 
1908.50 
1296.60 
1979.00 
2330.20 
2442.00 
2306.50 
2152.60 
2091.50 
2103.20 
2087.10 
2006.60 
1962.40 
1957.20 
1889.00 

1810.60 
1757.30 
1664.60 
1582.30 
1568.90 
i557.6o 
1525.00 
I353-IO 
1267.20 
1232.10 
1205.10 
"45-30 
1140.30 
H35.50 
1116.90 
1125.70 
1114.20 
1146.50 
1158.70 
1188.50 
1201.60 
1263.20 
1330.00 
1442.70 
1379.90 
1381.20 
i347.6o 
1298.90 
1257.70 
1226.00 
1216.60 
1219.90 

1210.20 
1170.30 
1157.10 

6613.68 
6676.68 
6051.71 
6073.04 
6163.60 
6181.31 
6261.69 
6321.08 
6493.00 
7645.22 
8012.03 
7567.46 
7062.52 
6862.06 
6900.44 
6847.63 
6583.51 
6438.53 
6421.48 
6197.72 
5940.49 
5765.60 
5461.47 
5191.44 
5147.48 
5H0.4I 
5003.44 
4439-45 
4157.63 
4042.46 
3953.87 
3757-66 

374LI3 
3725.51 
3664.49 
3693-36 
3657-63 
3761.61 
3801.64 
3899.41 

3942.39 
4144.50 
4363.66 
4733-43 
4527.38 
4531.65 
4421.41 
4261.63 
4126.46 
4022.45 

4002.43 
3970.61 
3839-69 
3796.39 

Los  Salas  

Santa  Maria  

Encarnacion      .  . 

Penuelas  . 

Pabellon               .... 

Rincon  de  Romos.  .  . 

Soledad  

Zacatecas 

Pimienta  

Calera  

Canitas  

Cedro            

La  Colorada      

San  Isidro     .  .                     .  . 

Symon         

Calvo          .      .           ... 

Peralta           

Jalisco  

Matamoros  

Noe     

Gonejos  

Yermo  

Cevallos  

Zavalza     .  .         

Rellano  

Corralitos         .               . 

Dolores  

Diaz  

Santa  Rosalia 

La  Cruz  

Concho.    ....          .  . 

Saucillo     .        

Las  Delicias  

Ortiz 

•(Itineraries* 


257 


FROM    MEXICO    TO   EL    PASO     DEL    NORTE     OR   CIUDAD   JUAREZ,  BY  THE 
CENTRAL   MEXICAN    RAILROAD. — Continued. 


STATIONS. 

Distance  between 
each  station. 

Distances. 

Altitudes. 

Kilom's. 

Miles. 

Kilom's. 

Miles. 

Metres. 

Feet. 

Bachinibn.   

17.400 
22.400 
22.900 
23.100 
15.100 
II.6OO 
19.900 

I3.900 
13.400 
20.400 
20.200 
29.OOO 
15.400 
13.100 
13-500 
II.3OO 
22.800 
24.100 
28.700 
18.200 
I6.IOO 
14.400 
17.600 

10.76 

13.91 
14.24 
14.36 
9.38 

7.21 
12.37 
8.64 

8.33 
12.67 
12.56 
18.02 

9-57 
8.14 

8-33 
7.09 
14.17 
14.97 
17.84 
11.32 

IO.OO 

8.95 
10.94 

1545.800 
1563.200 
1585.600 
1608.500 
1631.600 
1646.700 
1658.300 
1678.200 
1692.100 
1705.500 
1725.900 
I746.TOO 
1775-100 
1790.500 
1803.600 
I8I7.IOO 
1828.400 
I85I.2OO 
1875.300 
1904.000 
I922.2OO 
1938.300 
1952.700 
1970.300 

960.70 
97L54 
985.45 
999.69 
1014.05 
1023.43 
1030.64 
1043.01 
1051.65 
1059.98 
1072.65 
1085.21 
1103.23 
1112.80 
II2O.94 
1129.27 
1136.36 

H50.53 
1165.50 
"83.34 
1194.66 
1204.66 
I2I3.6I 
1224.55 

1264.10 
1366.50 
I5I4.40 
1412.30 
1519.90 

isg^so 

1564.40 

1533.60 
1527.50 
1535.70 
1618.90 
1622.00 
1480.50 
1382.80 

1318.10 

1233.30 
1216.00 
1194.60 
1281.80 
1298.30 

1274.50 

1263.50 
1207.10 

1133.10 

4147.45 
4483.42 
4968.66 
4633.68 
4986.71 
5221.63 

5132.71 
5031.66 
5011.65 
5038.55 
53H.53 
5321.71 
4857.45 
4536.89 
4324.62 
4046.39 
3989.64 
3919.42 
4205.52 
4259.66 
4181.57 
4145.48 
3960.40 
37I7.64 

Horcasitas  

Mapula                   .  .  . 

Chihuahua  

Sacramento 

Ferragas 

Sauz  

Encinillas 

Agua  Nueva  

Puerto 

Gallego     

Mocte/uma     .    .  . 

Las  Minas  

Ojo  Caliente  

Carmen          . 

San  Jose  

Rancheria  

Los  Medanos  

Samalayuca    

Tierra  Blanca  

Mesa     .  .         .           . 

Ciudad  Juarez  

FROM    AGUASCALIENTES   TO   TAMPICO,  A    BRANCH    OF    THE    SAME    ROAD. 


Aguascalientes     

14  3OO 

8  QO 

O  OOO 

o  oo 

1884  oo 

6181  31 

Chicalote  

6  200 

a.  84 

14  300 

8  QO 

iSgi.OO 

6204.28 

Canada  

10.500 

6.52 

20.500 

12.74 

IQ2I.5O 

6304.34 

Gallardo                 .... 

A  600 

2.86 

31.000 

10.26 

iqee  71; 

64.16  71 

El  Tule  

15.200 

Q  4"? 

3  5  .  600 

22.12 

1962.75 

6430.68 

San  Gil  

8.  200 

5.IO 

50.800 

31.57 

2OII.5O 

6500.62 

II.OOO 

6.84 

59.000 

36.67 

2031.25 

6664.42 

Garcia  

12  8OO 

7.Q5 

70  ooo 

43  71 

2II7.4O 

6947.07 

La  Honda 

1  1  OOO 

6  84 

82  800 

cj  4.6 

21^8  «?O 

7016  30 

Penon  Blanco  

16  200 

10  07 

Q3  8OO 

=18.30 

2IOO.75 

68Q2.44 

Salinas  

13  600 

8.44 

IIO.OOO 

68.37 

2075.63 

6810.91 

Zotol  

13.500 

8.39 

123.600 

76.81 

2I2O.5O 

6957.24 

Espiritu  Santo 

2C  400 

ie  70 

137.100 

85.20 

2O38.25 

6687.3Q 

Solana      

62.200 

38.65 

162.500 

IOO.9Q 

2234.80 

7332.25 

San  Louis  Potosi  

17.300 

10.96 

224.700 

139.64 

1877.00 

6158.35 

Laguna  Seca       ....          . 

27  100 

16.84 

242.000 

I5O.4O 

1827.00 

5QQ4.3O 

Corcovada  

15.100 

9-37 

269.100 

167.24 

I7OO.OO 

5577.62 

Peotillos  

7.500 

4.69 

284.200 

176.61 

I74O.OO 

5708.86 

Silos      

6  4^0 

4.00 

291.700 

181.30 

I5OQ.OO 

4Q5O.Q5 

Puerto  de  San  Jose  

15  650 

0.72 

298.150 

185.30 

I566.OO 

5137.97 

San  Isidro 

I  a  4.00 

8  w 

313.800 

IQ5  O2 

12^7  OO 

4124.16 

Cerritos  

II.2OO 

6.Q7 

327.200 

203.35 

1136.00 

3727.16 

Santa  Toribia  (El  Gato)..  .  . 
San  Bartolo  .  .                    . 

17.300 

4-3    OQO 

10.76 
26.00 

338.400 

355  700 

210.32 

221  08 

IIOO.OO 

1030  oo 

3609.04 
337Q.38 

Tanque  de  la  Tinajilla  

I4.2OO 
I4.7OO 

8.82 
0.14 

399.ooo 
413.200 

247.98 
256.80 

1190.00 
1  200.00 

3904.33 
3937.14 

La  Labor  

8.2OO 

5.10 

427.900 

265.04 

1  200.00 

3937.14 

258 


Statistical  IRotes  on  /IDejico. 


FROM    AGUASCALIENTES   TO  TAMPICO,   A  BRANCH  OF  THE  SAME  ROAD. — - 

Continued. 


STATIONS. 

Distance  between 
each  station. 

Distances. 

Altitudes. 

Kilom's. 

Miles. 

Kilom's. 

Miles. 

Metres. 

Feet. 

7.900 
18.800 
16.800 
15.100 
9.500 
10.700 
13.800 
11.900 
2.300 
4.000 
8.000 
68,700 
13-700 
17.900 
13.100 

4.91 
11.68 
10.44 

9.38 

5-91 
6.65 

8.58 
7-39 
1.43 
2-49 
4.98 
42.68 
8.52 

11.13 
8.14 

436.100 
444.000 
462.800 
479-600 
494.700 
504.200 

514.90° 
528.700 
540.600 
542.900 
546,900 
554.900 
623.600 
637.300 
655.200 
668.300 

271.04 

275.95 
287.63 
298.07 
307.45 
313.36 
320.01 
328.59 
335.98 
337.41 
339-9° 
344-88 
387.56 
396.08 
407.21 
415.35 

990.00 
825.00 
350.00 
295.00 
275.00 
218.00 
175.00 
75.00 
160.00 
165.00 
125.00 
50.00 
65.00 
5.00 

20.00 
O.OO 

3248.14 
2706.78 

H48.33 
967.88 
902.26 
715.25 
574-16 
246.07 
524.95 
541-35 
4IO.II 
164.05 
213.25 
16.40 
6.56 
0.00 

Los  Llanos  (Zacate)  

Tatnazopo  (La  Garita).  .  .  . 

Rascon           .             .  .  .  . 

Las  Crucitas  

El  Salto  (Micos)  

Valles  

San  Felipe  

El  Abra    

Xaninul  

Chijol  

Salinas  (Chila.)  

Tamos  

FROM  IRAPUATO  TO  GUADALAJARA,  A  BRANCH  OF  THE  SAME  ROAD. 


5.100 

3.17 

o.ooo 

O.OO 

I724.OO 

5656.36 

San  Miguel      .             .     . 

ii  300 

7  O2 

5.IOO 

3.17 

1  72  1  OO 

^646  ^2 

Rivera  

7.600 

4.73 

16.400 

IO.  IQ 

I7I2.OO 

5616.  QQ 

Cuitzeo  

8.  ooo 

4.96 

24.OOO 

14.92 

I7OO.OO 

5577.62 

Abasolo  (Rio  Turbio)  
San  Rafael   

6.200 

ii  600 

3.85 
7.22 

32.OOO 
38  2OO 

19.88 
23.73 

1695.00 
1690.00 

5561.21 

5544  8  1 

Penjamo  

14.300 

8.89 

49.8OO 

30.05 

I7OO.OO 

5577.62 

Villasenor  

7.100 

4.41 

64.IOO 

39.84 

1690.00 

5544.81 

Palo  Verde           

13  500 

8.  40 

7I.2OO 

44  2^ 

1685  oo 

5528.4O 

Cortez  

6.600 

4.10 

84.700 

|?2.6'; 

1675.00 

54Q5.5Q 

La  Piedad  

20.  100 

12.49 

9I.3OO 

56.75 

1675.00 

54Q5  50 

Patti    

14.100 

8  8q 

III  4OO 

60  24 

1665.00 

5472  78 

Yurecuaro  

2  1.  OOO 

13.05 

125.  7OO 

wy«*f 
78  11 

1540.00 

5O52.56 

6.4OO 

3.97 

146.700 

QI.lS 

1  5  3  1  .  OO 

5O23.  13 

La  Barca        

A    7OO 

2.Q3 

ie  -3   JOG 

QC    1C 

1507  oo 

5O42  82 

Feliciano  

8.100 

5.15 

I57.8OO 

08.08 

I54O  OO 

co  5  2  66 

13.200 

8.21 

I66.IOO 

103.23 

I541.OO 

5O62.5O 

Ocotlan  

17.500 

10.88 

I79.3OO 

111.44 

1525.00 

5OO3.44 

Poncitlan            

2  I  .  6OO 

13.41 

196  8OO 

122  32 

1522  oo 

4QQ1.6O 

8.3OO 

5.17 

2I8.4OO 

135.73 

1512  oo 

4Q6o  7Q 

La  Capilla 

v.j~ 
7  6OO 

A     70 

226  7OO 

1  4O  QO 

1515  OO 

4Q7O  6l 

El  Castillo             .      . 

24.  8OO 

1^.40 

214  1OO 

I4C  6l 

1525  OO 

5OO1.44 

Guadalajara  

259.100 

161.03 

1543.00 

5062.50 

FROM  MEXICO  TO  LAREDO  TAMAULIPAS,  BY  THE  MEXICAN  NATIONAL 

RAILWAY. 


Mexico  , 

4  600 

2.86 

O.OOO 

O.OO 

2240  oo 

714Q  12 

Tacuba  ...      .  . 

4  800 

2  08 

4  6OO 

2  86 

2250  oo 

7l82  11 

1  QOO 

2  42 

Q.4OO 

5.84 

2280  oo 

748o  56 

Rio  Hondo  

8.700 

5.41 

I1.1OO 

8.26 

2300  oo 

7546  17 

San  Bartolito  

5  5OO 

1  42 

22  OOO 

ii  67 

2460  oo 

8071  ii 

Dos  Rios  

5  5OO 

1  4T 

27.500 

I7.OQ 

2680  oo 

87Q2  Q4 

Laurel  

5.  QOO 

3.68 

11.OOO 

2O  5O 

2820  oo 

Q252  27 

Cumbre          .... 

2  5OO 

I  55 

l8  QOO 

24  1  8 

3050  oo 

IOOO6  89* 

•(Itineraries, 


259 


FROM   MEXICO    TO    LAREDO    TAMAULIPAS.—  Continued. 


STATIONS. 

Distance  between 
each  station. 

Distances. 

Altitudes. 

Kilom's. 

Miles. 

Kilom's. 

Miles. 

Metres. 

Feet. 

Salazar  .  . 

3.200 
3.400 
2.500 
5.600 
3.000 
13-900 
7.400 
16.700 
14.700 
12.300 
9.800 
20.200 
4.000 
5.800 
1  1.  200 
10.900 
7.100 
7.800 
4.800 
3.400 
14.100 

12.000 
8.700 
12.000 
8.400 
8.500 
12.900 
12.500 
17.500 
15.500 
S.gOO 
14.200 
5.200 
7.400 
3.800 
7.2OO 
8.900 
13.000 
9.1OO 
11.600 
11.300 
I2.8OO 
7.200 
11.300 
9.IOO 
9.000 
18.700 
I4.40O 
13.200 
16.700 
IO.OOO 

14.800 
15.000 

13.400 

15.100 
12.500 
13.600 

15.200 
18.900 

1.99 
2.  II 
1.56 
3.48 

1.86 
8.64 
4.60 
10.38 
9.14 
7.64 
6.09 
12.56 
2.48 
3.6o 
6.97 
6.77 
4.41 
4.85 
2.99 

2.10 
8.76 

7-47 
5.40 
7-47 
5-22 

5.28 

8.02 

7.76 

10.88 
9-63 
5-53 
8.84 
3.22 
4.60 
2.37 
4-47 
5-57 
8.08 

5.65 
7.21 

7.03 
7.95 
4.48 

7.02 

5.65 
5.59 

11.63 

8.95 

8.20 

10.38 

6.22 

9.19 

9-33 
8.33 
9-37 
7-78 
8-45 
9-45 
H.75 

41.400 
44.600 
48.000 
50.500 
56.100 

59-100 
73.000 
80.400 
97.100 
111.800 
124.100 
133.900 
154.100 
158.100 
163.900 
175.100 
186.000 
193.100 
200.900 
225.700 
209.100 
223.200 
235.200 
243.900 
255-900 
264.300 
272.800 
285.700 
298.200 
315.700 
331.200 
340.100 
354.300 
359.500 
366.900 
370.700 
377.900 
386.800 
399-800 
408.900 
420.500 
431.800 
444.600 
451.800 
463.100 
472.200 
481.200 
499-900 
514.300 
527.500 

5-44-200 
554-200 
569.000 
584.000 
597.400 
612.500 
625.000 
638.600 
653.800 

25.73 
27.72 
29.83 
3L39 
34.87 
36.73 
45-37 
49-97 
60.35 
69.49 

77.13 
83.22 
95.78 
98.26 
101.86 
108.83 
115.60 

120.01 

124.86 
127.85 
129.95 
138.71 
146.18 
I5L58 
159.05 
164.27 

169-55 
177.57 
185.33 
196.21 
205.84 
211.37 

220.21 

223-43 
228.03 
230.40 
234.87 
240.40 
248.48 

254.13 
261.34 
268.37 
276.32 
280.80 
287.82 

293-47 
299.06 
310.69 
319.64 

327.84 
338.22 

344-44 
353.63 
362.96 
371-29 
380.66 
388.44 
396.89 
406.34 

3000.00 
2900.OO 
28OO.OO 
2720.00 
2600.00 
2540.00 
2640.00 
2630.00 
2580.00 
2540.00 
2520.00 
2520.00 
2580.00 
2560.00 
2540.00 
2430.00 
2320.00 
224O.OO 
2IOO.OO 
2100.00 
2O4O.OO 
2OIO.OO 
2080.00 
2OIO.OO 
I92O.OO 
I860.00 
ISSO.OO 
I86O.OO 
1840.00 
1760.00 
I76O.OO 
1770.00 
1740.00 
1760.00 
1780.00 
1785.00 
I79O.OO 

1810.00 
1825.00 
1870.00 
1860.00 
1870.00 
1890.00 
1900.00 
1930.00 
1950.00 
1990.00 
2050.00 
1860.00 
1840.00 
1830.00 
1810.00 
1900.00 
1860.00 
1840.00 
1820.00 
1700.00 
1680.00 
1660.00 

9842.84 

9514.74 
9186.75 
8924.18 
8530.46 
8333.60 
8661.70 
8628.89 
8464.84 
8333.60 
8267.98 
8267.98 
8464.84 
8399.22 
8333.60 
7972.70 
7611.79 
7349-32 
7086.84 
6889.98 
6693.13 
6594.70 
6824.37 
6594.70 
6299.42 
6102.57 
6168.19 
6102.57 
6036.95 
5774.48 
5774.48 
5807.29 
5708.86 
5774.48 
5840.10 
5856.50 
5872.91 
5938.52 
5Q87.73 

6135.38 
6102.57 
6I35.38 
6201.00 
6233.88 
6332.23 

6397.85 
6529.09 

6725.94 
6102.57 
6036.95 
6004.14 
5938.52 
6233.88 
6102.57 
6036.95 

597L33 
5577-62 
5512.00 
5446.38 

Carretera  de  Toluca     .    ... 

Fresno 

laialpa.  . 

Lerrna.  ... 

Toluca  

Palmillas  

Del  Rio                         .  .      . 

Ixtlahuaca        

Tepetitlan  

Klor  de  Maria  

Venta  del  Aire 

Tultenango  .              .    . 

Solis  

Tepetongo  . 

Agua  Buena  (Buena  Vista). 
Mayor  

Pateo  

Pomoca  

San  Antonio 

Zirizicuaro     

San  Jose  ...                        . 

Providencia  

Acambaro  

San  Cristobal   

Salvatierra  

Cascalote  .  . 

Ojo  Seno.             

Celaya  

Santa  Rita  

San  Juan  

Chamacuero         .  .        . 

Rinconcillo  

Begona 

San  Miguel  deAllende 

Atotonilco  

Dolores  Hidalgo           . 

Rincon  

Pena  Prieta  

Trancas 

Obregon   

Ciudad  Gonzalez  (SanFelipe) 
Chirimoya  .  . 

Jaral  

Villa  de  Reyes  

Jesus  Maria  ... 

La  Pila  

San  Luis  Potosi  
Penasco  

Pinto  

Bocas  

Enramada  

Moctezuma   ...    .  , 

260 


Statistical  1Rote0  on  Mexico, 


FROM   MEXICO    TO    LAREDO    TAMAULIPAS. — Continued. 


STATIONS. 

Distance  between 
each  station. 

Distances. 

Altitudes. 

Kilom's. 

Miles. 

Kilom's. 

Miles. 

Metres. 

Feet. 

El  Venado  

17.000 
16.300 
11.600 
15.400 
I6.OOO 
8.600 
6.800 
15.200 
16.400 
15.800 
15.700 
15.700 
2O.2OO 
2O.OOO 
20.900 
13.200 
17.300 
9.600 
13.200 
6.300 
9.700 
1.500 
3-500 
7-300 
9.700 
7.000 
2.300 
10.400 
7.700 
5-500 
10.200 
21.100 
2.800 
4.700 
2.900 
2.500 
7.6OO 

6.100 
20.900 
8.100 
16.300 
8.700 
13.200 
12.600 

2.100 

3.400 

9.800 
1.400 

12.  OOO 
I2.IOO 
8.900 
23.300 
2I.2OO 
12.400 
11.500 
16.500 
13.100 
I6.IOO 

10.56 
IO.I3 

7.20 

9-58 

9-94 
5-35 
4.23 
9-44 

IO.2O 
9.8l 
9.76 

9-75 
12.56 
12.43 
13.00 

8.20 

10.77 

5-94 

8.21 

3-92 
6.03 

7.15 
2.17 

4-55 

6.02 

4-35 
1.40 
6.46 
4-78 
3-42 
6-34 
13-11 
1.74 
2.87 
1.79 
1.56 
4-73 
3-79 
12.99 

5-03 
10.13 
5-40 

8.20 

7.84 
1-31 

2.  II 
6.09 
7.08 
7.46 
7-52 

5-53 
14-48 
13.18 
7.71 
7-15 
10.25 
8.14 

IO.OI 

672.600 
689.700 
706.000 
717.600 
733.000 
749.000 
757-600 
764.400 
779-600 
796.000 
811.800 
827.500 
843.200 
863.400 
883.400 
904.300 
917.500 
934-800 
944.400 
957-600 
963-900 
973-600 
985.100 
988.600 
995.900 
1005.600 
1012.600 
1014.900 
1025.300 
1033.000 
1038.500 
1048  .  700 
1069.800 
1072.600 
1077.300 
1080.200 
1082  .  700 
1090  .  300 
1096.400 
1117.300 
1125.400 
1141.700 
1150.400 
1163.600 
1176.200 
1178.300 
1181.700 
1191.500 
1202.900 
1214  900 

418.09 
428.65 
438.78 
445.98 
455.56 
465.50 
470.85 
475.08 
484.52 
494.72 
504.53 
514.29 
524.04 
536.60 

549-03 
562.03 
570.23 
580.99 
586.93 
595-14 
599-06 
605.09 
612.24 
614.41 
618.96 
624.98 
629.33 
630.77 
637.23 
642.01 
645.43 
65L77 
664.88 
666.62 
669.55 
67L34 
672.90 

677.63 
681.42 
694.41 

899.44 
709.57 
714.97 
723.17 
731.01 
732.32 
734-43 
740.52 
747.60 
755-06 
762.58 
768.11 
782.59 

795-77 
803.48 
810.63 
820.88 
829.02 
839-03 

1740.00 
1880.00 
2020.00 
1990.00 
I880.00 
1840.00 
1820.00 
I78O.OO 
I72O.OO 
1720.00 
I7OO.OO 
I72O.OO 
I72O.OO 
1720.00 
I76O.OO 
I94O.OO 
1980.00 
2O8O.OO 
I92O.OO 
1840.00 
1750.00 
1600.00 
1430.00 
I4OO.OO 
1320.00 
1220.00 
I  I6O.OO 
1  1  2O.OO 
1000.00 
930.00 
82O.OO 
740.00 
640.00 
6OO.OO 
590.00 
580.00 
56O.OO 
510.00 
480.00 
43O.OO 
46O.OO 
580.00 
56O.OO 
490.00 
420.00 
42O.OO 
440.00 
470.00 
4IO.OO 
380.00 
340.00 
300.09 
240.00 
200.00 
2OO.OO 
210.00 
2OO.OO 
l6o.OO 
130.00 

5708.86 
6168.19 
6627.51 
6529.09 
6168.19 
6036.95 

5971-33 
5840.10 

5643.24 
5643.24 
5577-62 
5643.24 
5643.24 
5643.24 
5774.48 
6365.04 
6496.28 
6824.37 
6299.42 
6036.95 
5741.67 
5249.52 
4691.76 

4593-33 
4330.85 
4002.76 
3805.90 
3674-66 
3280.95 
3051.28 
2693.38 
2427.91 
2099.81 
1968.57 
1935.76 
1902.95 
1837.33 
1673.28 
1574-86 
1410.81 
1509.24 
1902.95 

1837-33 
1607.67 
1378.00 
1378.00 
I443.62 
1542.05 

1345.19 
1246.76 

IU5.52 

984.28 

787.43 
656.19 
656.19 
689.00 
656.19 

524.95 
426.52 

Los  Charcos                         . 

La  Maroma     

Wadley   

Poblazon  

Vanegas        .                

La  Trueba  (La  Parida)  .... 

San  Vicente 

El  Salado             

Lulu      

Santa  Elena 

Gomes  Farias  

El  Oro  

Carneros               .....      .  . 

Agua  Nueva.  

Encantada  

Saltillo        

Los  Bosoues  

Santa  Maria   .                .      . 

Ojo  Caliente    

Rinconada    

Soledad  

Garcia         ... 

Santa  Catarina  

Leona 

Gonzalitos     

Monterey  

Topo                         

Morales 

Stevenson  (Palmito)  

Palo  Blanco  

Villa  Aldama     . 

Guadalupe  

Huizache  

Golondrinas  

Salome  Botello  . 

Brasil  

1227.000 
1235.900 
1259.200 
1280.400 
1292.800 
1304.300 
1320.800 
1333.900 
1350.000 

Rodriguez  

Huizachito     .        •  . 

Jarita  

Sanchez 

Laredo  de  Xamaulipas       . 

fltineraries. 


261 


FROM    ACAMBARO   TO   PATZCUARO,    A   BRANCH   OF   THE   SAME    ROAD. 


STATIONS. 

Distance  between 
each  station. 

Distances. 

Altitudes. 

Kilom's. 

Miles. 

Kilom's. 

Miles. 

Metres. 

Feet. 

Acambaro  .          

13.250 
17.610 
6.170 
12.360 

4.000 
10.000 
7.610 
5.920 
3.150 

11.200 
IQ.gOO 
9.6IO 
6.800 
10.380 
2.910 
12.530 

8.23 
10.96 

3.83 
7.68 
2.49 

6.22 

4.73 
3.67 
1-95 
6.96 
12.37 
5.98 
4.22 
6.46 
i.  80 
7-79 

0.000 
13.250 
30.860 
37.030 
49.390 
53.390 

63.390 
71.000 
76.920 
80.070 
91.270 
III.I70 
120.780 
127.580 
137.960 
140.870 
153.400 

0.00 

8.23 

19.19 
23.02 
30.70 
33.19 
39.41 
44.14 
47.81 
49.76 
56.72 
69.09 
75.07 
79.29 
85.75 
87.55 
95.34 

1840.00 
1960.00 
1840.00 
1840.00 
1840.00 
1840.00 
1860.00 
1870.00 
1870.00 
1880.00 
iSgo.OO 
2OOO.OO 
2O6O.OO 
2100.00 
2I2O.OO 
2IOO.OO 
2040.00 

6036.95 
6430.66 
6036.95 
6036.95 
6036.95 
6036.95 
6102.57 
6135.38 
6135.38 
6168.19 
62OI.OO 
6561.89 

6758.75 
6889.98 
6955.60 
6889.98 
6693.13 

Andocutin  

Ouere'ndaro       •  •  .  •      • 

Zinzimeo.  .        

La  Goleta     

Coapa                

Ponce  

Chapultepec    

FROM   PIEDRAS  NEGRAS   OR   CIUDAD    PORFIRIO     DIAZ    TO   DURANGO,    BY 
THE   MEXICAN   INTERNATIONAL   RAILWAY. 


Ciudad  Porfirio  Diaz  

6.  540 

4.O6 

o.ooo 

o.oo 

220.00 

721  81 

Fuente 

7  060 

4qn 

6  54.0 

4.  06 

232  oo 

?6l  17 

Rosa         

26.200 

16  20 

13  600 

8  45 

278.00 

912  II 

Nava  

i  i  .  960 

7  44 

30.800 

24.74 

324.00 

1063  O2 

Allende  

14.040 

9  28 

51.760 

32.18 

375.00 

1230.35 

Leona               

ic  64.0 

Q  71 

66  700 

4.1  46 

455.00 

I4Q2  8^ 

Peyotes           

21.  4^0 

iq.  -12 

82.340 

51.17 

486.00 

1594.55 

I2.8<;o 

7.99 

103.770 

64.49 

387.00 

1269.73 

Sabinas               .  .  •          .... 

1C,  85O 

Q  85 

116.620 

72.48 

340.00 

1115.52 

Soledad              

10  650 

6.61 

132  470 

82.33 

371.00 

I2TX23 

Baroteran  

14.120 

8.78 

143.120 

88.94 

425.00 

I394.4O 

15.090 

9-39 

157.240 

97.72 

453.oo 

1486.27 

Obayos  

1C  aoQ 

9.52 

172.330 

IO7.II 

396.00 

1299.26 

10.690 

6.65 

187.660 

116.63 

373.00 

1223.79 

2I.23O 

13.18 

198.350 

123.28 

396.00 

1299.26 

Adjuntas     

17.  57O 

8  44 

219.580 

136.46 

465.00 

1525.64 

Estancia  

4.770 

2.97 

233.150 

T/M'9° 

547.00 

1794.68 

18.560 

11.54 

237.920 

147.87 

587.00 

1925.92 

Castano  

I4.92O 

9.29 

256.480 

I59.4I 

748.00 

2454.16 

Gloria          

IQ.  5QO 

12.  16 

271.400 

168.70 

823.00 

27OO.22 

I2.42O 

7.71 

290.990 

180.86 

843.00 

2765.84 

Tova 

2O  4IO 

12.68 

303.410 

188.57 

829.00 

2719.91 

Espinazo        

I2.O8O 

7.52 

323.820 

201.25 

817.00 

2680.54 

Reata  

22.86O 

14.21 

335.900 

208.77 

900.00 

2952.85 

Trevino  (Venadito) 

26.O4O 

16.16 

358.760 

222.98 

890.00 

2920.05 

Sauceda  

24.  760 

15.40 

384.800 

239.14 

997.00 

3271.11 

Taral  .  . 

23.O2O 

14.31 

409.  560 

254.54 

1  144.00 

3753.40 

Pastora  

21.610 

13.44 

432.580 

268.85 

1157.00 

3796.06 

Carmen               .         

2"?  Q7O 

14.89 

454.190 

282.29 

1182.00 

3878.08 

Paila  

19.670 

12.23 

478.160 

297.18 

1188.00 

3897.77 

16.540 

10.28 

497.830 

309.41 

1132.00 

3714.03 

Rafael      .              

I2.97O 

8.05 

514.370 

319.69 

1102.00 

3615.60 

Pozo  

11.290 

7.02 

527.340 

327.74 

1105.00 

3625.44 

262 


Statistical  IRotes  on 


FROM   PIEDRAS   NEGRAS   OR    CIUDAD     PORFIRIO     DIAZ    TO    DURANGO,  BY 
THE   MEXICAN    INTERNATIONAL   RAILWAY. — Continued. 


STATIONS. 

Distance  between 
each  station. 

Distances. 

Altitudes. 

Kilom's. 

Miles. 

Kilom's. 

Miles. 

Metres. 

Feet. 

Bola  

13.480 
10.870 
13.410 
17.620 
22.540 
8.050 
15.740 
19.280 
20.870 
15.200 
25.640 
24.540 
21.580 
12.760 
12.150 
22.040 
16.930 
26.420 
11.760 

8.38 

6.75 
8.35 
10.95 
14.00 
5-oo 
9.18 
11.98 
12.98 
9-45 
15.93 
15.25 
I3.4I 
7-93 
7.56 
13.70 
10.52 
16.42 
7-30 

538.630 
552.HO 
562.980 
576.390 
594.010 
616.550 
624.600 
640.340 
659.620 
680.490 
695.690 
721.330 
745.870 
767.450 
780.210 
792.360 
814.400 
83L330 
857.750 
869.510 

334.76 
343-14 
349.89 
358.24 
369.19 

383.19 
388.19 

397-97 
409.95 
422.93 
432.38 
448.31 
463,56 
476.97 
484.90 
492.46 
506.16 
516.68 
533-10 
540.40 

1089.00 
1094.00 
1096.00 
IIO5.OO 
1112.00 
1134.00 

II37-7I 
II8I.52 

1377.25 
1325.37 
1318.85 
1605.28 

1908.73 
1895.00 
1969.47 
1982.72 
1955-20 
1868.10 
1864.38 
1880.13 

3572.96 
3589.36 
3595-93 
3625.44 
3648.41 
3720.59 

3732-77 
3876.51 
4518.69 

4348.45 
4327.07 
5266.84 
6262.53 
6217.40 
6461.73 
6505.21 

9414.91 
6129.15 
6116.93 
6168.62 

Hornos  

Matamoros            .    . 

Xorreon  

San  Carlos  

Loma         . 

Chocolate  .... 

Huarichic  

Pedricena  

Pasaje             .      ... 

Yerbanis     

Catalina                .      ... 

Tapona    

Gabriel  • 

Labor  

FROM    SABINAS    TO    HONDO,    A    BRANCH    OF    THE    SAME    ROAD. 


Sabinas  

17.  53O 

10  83 

o  ooo 

O  OO 

04.0  OO 

T  I  j  C  C2 

San  Felipe  

2.380 

1.48 

17  43O 

10  83 

-jjo  OO 

1026  93 

ig.SlO 

12.31 

qiO  OO 

1046  62 

FROM    THE   CITY    OF   MEXICO   TO   CUERNAVACA    AND    ACAPULCO. 
LINE  FINISHED. 


28.060 

17  44 

O  OOO 

o  oo 

2240  oo 

734Q  27 

Contreras  

17  883 

II  II 

28  060 

17  44 

2480  oo 

8ooi   7^ 

IC.IQI 

Q  44 

4.e  043 

28  *(*, 

2840  oo 

Q272  80 

La  Cima 

12  966 

8  O7 

6l   I  34 

07     QQ 

OQ/IO  OO 

Xacapexco  (Tres  Marias).  .  . 

18.400 

11.43 

74.  ioo 

•J/-VV 

46.06 

2800.00 

9186.75 

LINE  IN  CONSTRUCTION. 


San  Tuanico 

oj   25O 

IQ.42 

Q2.5OO 

57.  40 

229O.OO 

7=1-1  -27 

Cuernavaca  

7  25O 

4.CI 

123.  7«iO 

76.91 

1520  oo 

4Q87.O4 

6.75O 

4.2O 

I3I.OOO 

82.42 

I3OO.OO 

4265.23 

San  Vicente     . 

21  OOO 

i  -i  o6; 

1-37.71:0 

85.62 

I26O.OO 

4134  OO 

Xoxocotla  

14  O5O 

8.73 

158.750 

08.67 

IO3O.OO 

337Q.38 

Puente  de  Ixtla  

8.050 

5.56 

I72.8OO 

107.40 

9OO.OO 

2952.85 

Rio  Arnacusac  .  . 

2-1  2^0 

14  45 

181  750 

112  96 

890.00 

2Q2O  O5 

21  OOO 

I3.O5 

205.000 

127.41 

1  2OO.OO 

3Q37  14 

leruala  .  . 

II  OOO 

6.84 

226.000 

140.46 

72O.OO 

2362.29 

34.750 

21.13 

237.000 

I47.3O 

SOO.OO 

2624.76 

Xalitla  

12  O5O 

7  QI 

271.750 

168.47 

620  oo 

2O34  IQ 

28  7OO 

17.84 

283.800 

176.38 

480.00 

1574.86 

Venta  del  Zopilote  

II.5OO 

7.15 

312.500 

194.22 

760.00 

2493.53 

Zumpango  

13  ooo 

8  08 

324.000 

2OI.37 

IOOO.OO 

328O.Q5 

Itineraries. 


263 


FROM    THE   CITY   OF   MEXICO    TO    CUERNAVACA    AND    ACAPULCO. 
LINE  IN  CONSTRUCTION.     (Continued.} 


STATIONS. 

Distance  between 
each  station. 

Distances. 

Altitudes. 

Kiloin's. 

Miles. 

Kilom's. 

Miles. 

Metre 

Feet. 

Tierras  Prietas        . 

4.800 
I5.2OO 
8.250 
11.750 

6.000 

12.000 
12.000 
Q.OOO 
4.000 
32.000 
24.500 
16.500 

2.98 
9-45 
5-12 
7-31 

3-72 
7.46 
7.46 
5.6o 
2.48 
19.89 

15-23 
10.25 

337-000 
341.800 
357-000 
365-250 
377.ooo 
383.000 
395.000 
407.000 
416.000 
420.000 
452.000 
476.500 
493-000 

209.45 

212.43 
221.88 

227.00 

234.31 
238.03 

245.49 
252.95 
258.55 

261.03 
280.92 
296.15 
306.40 

1320.00 
1  2OO.OO 
I3OO.OO 
I06o.00 
IOOO.OO 
67O.OO 
600.00 
300.00 
iSo.OO 
140.00 
60.00 
2O.OO 
0.00 

4330.85 

3937.14 
4265.23 
3477-81 
3280.95 
2198.24 
1968.57 
984.28 
590.57 
459-33 
196.86 
65.62 
o.oo 

Chilpancingo.    ... 

Cima  de  Valadez  

La  Imagen  .  . 

Los  Cajones  

El  Rincon  

L)os  Caminos                 

Tierra  Colorada  

Peregrine  .  .        ...          .... 

Cacahuatepec  

Marquez 

Acapulco                      .  .      .  . 

FROM    PUEBLA    TO    OAXACA,    BY    THE    MEXICAN    SOUTHERN    RAILWAY. 


Puebla  

1  8  400 

II.  4.  a 

O  OOO 

O  OO 

2157  oo 

7O77  OO 

Amozoc         

7  600 

470 

1  8  400 

1  1  A.1> 

231  2  OO 

7cgc    CA 

ii  200 

6  Qf, 

26  ooo 

16  16 

2295  oo 

7C2Q  77 

Tepeaca 

17  4.OO 

10  82 

07  200 

2<i   T  T 

Rosendo  Marquez  

10  500 

6  « 

54  600 

•ja  QO 

2055  oo 

/JU4-41 

Tecamachalco  

12  6OO 

7  8^ 

65  100 

4O  4.6 

2014  10 

6608  I^ 

Las  Animas      .  . 

94OO 

c  8/1 

77  7OO 

J.8  2O 

ArAy     Qn 

Tlacotepec  

QI     -7QO 

IQ  d.6 

87  100 

e/1    T  -s 

1088  25 

Carnero  

8  QOO 

c   ea 

118  400 

7  a  en 

I7C2  ^7 

UD^JOD 

1:7,10  A'I 

Tehuacan 

14  7OO 

91  ^ 

127  T.OO 

7O   12 

La  Huerta  ....        ... 

6  ^oo 

•3    Q2 

142  ooo 

88  25 

1UU^O/ 

34D4-01 

4768  18 

Santa  Cruz 

jo  900 

6  76 

Tj.8  ^oo 

Pantzingo 

14  600 

Q  OQ 

159  2OO 

y^.  i  i 

1J/U-J1 

4495.91 
Ao88  n7 

Nopala    

6  4.OO 

-7  07 

173  800 

v°-yj 
1  08  02 

1060  56 

Venta  Salada  

1  5  .  200 

0.46 

1  80  2OO 

III  QQ 

Q72  O7 

j4/y.u^ 

Ojgo    -2T 

San  Antonio 

8  7OO 

54.O 

IQC  4.OO 

121  AC. 

787  O2 

Mexia  

20  300 

12.62 

204  100 

126  85 

60  c  oo 

^DC^.IJ 
228O  26 

10  900 

6.78 

224.400 

I-JQ  4.7 

CCQ  7j 

1836  38 

Ouiotepec 

17  ooo 

10  56 

2  •?  C   7QO 

146  2C 

540  oo 

Cuicatlan  

4  8OO 

2  08 

2S2  ^OO 

156  81 

CQ2  OO 

1  /  !*••  I*- 

IOJ.0   72 

Tomellin  

IQ  2OO 

II.  Ql 

257.IOO 

ICQ    7Q 

672  oo 

AV4^-J^ 
22O4  8O 

Almoloyas  . 

16  500 

10  26 

276  ^oo 

171  72 

1055  oo 

Santa  Catarina. 

1  6  2OO 

10  06 

292  8OO 

181  98 

I  "3^2  OO 

-1-17O  22 

El  Parian  

13.700 

8.52 

^OQ.OOO 

IQ2  O4 

I4.QH  OO 

d-QOH  O2 

12.800 

7.96 

322.7OO 

200.56 

IQ27  OO 

6^22  7Q 

San  Pablo  Huitzo  
Villa  de  Etla  

13.100 

1  8  ooo 

8.13 

II.  IQ 

335-500 
•348  6OO 

208.52 

216  65 

1695.00 

1642  oo 

556I.2I 
£^87  -J2 

Oaxaca 

366  6OO 

227  84. 

jc  /i  e  OO 

5060  06 

FROM    COATZACOALCOS    TO   SALINA    CRUZ,    BY    THE    NATIONAL 
TEHUANTEPEC    RAILWAY. 


Coatzacoalcos 

21   74Q 

iq  ci 

O  OOO 

O  OO 

2  OO 

6  56 

Los  Llmones 

ic    140 

Q  42 

21.740 

n  ^i 

16  oo 

c2  CO 

Chinameca  

c  4.07 

•3  -ac 

•36  880 

22.0^? 

6  oo 

IQ  6Q 

Jaltipan  .  . 

2O  ^4.7 

12  77 

4.2  2o6 

26  28 

40  oo 

TOJ  24. 

Ojapa  

12  568 

7  8-3 

62  843 

•5Q    QC 

02  OO 

I  O4  QQ 

Almagres  

11,589 

7.19 

75-411 

46.88 

48.00 

157-49 

264 


Statistical  Iftotes  on 


STATIONS. 

Distance  between 
each  station. 

Distances. 

Altitudes. 

Kilom's. 

Miles. 

Kilom's. 

Miles. 

Metres. 

Feet. 

Juile                    . 

9.284 
9.672 

21.044 
7.000 

IO.OOO 

14.801 

7.199 
20.570 
15.176 
13.254 
17.764 

10.236 
17.186 
28.218 

3.596 
17.617 

5-77 
6.01 
13-08 
4.36 

6.21 

9.20 

4.47 

12.78 
9-43 
8.25 
11.04 

6.35 
10.68 

17.54 
2.24 
10.94 

87.000 
96.284 
105.956 
127.000 
I34.OOO 
144.000 
158.801 
166.000 
186.570 
201.746 
2I5.OOO 
232.764 
243.000 
260.186 
288.404 
2Q2.OOO 
309.617 

54-07 
59-84 
65.85 
78.93 
83.29 
89.50 
98.70 
103.17 
115-95 
125.38 
133.63 
144.67 
151.02 
161.70 

179.24 
181.48 
192.42 

4O.OO 
32.00 
44.00 
30.00 

35-00 
25.00 
52.00 
88.00 
92.00 
176.00 
260.00 
244.00 
115.00 
56.00 
36.00 
36.00 

2.00 

131.24 
104.99 
144.36 
98.43 
H4.83 
82.02 
I7O.6I 
288.73 
301.85 
577.45 
853.05 
800.55 
377.30 
183.74 
108.12 

108.12 

6.56 

Meclias  Aguas  

Santa.  Lucrecia  

Los  Muertos  

Ubero 

Tolosa  

Palornares 

Mogone                .        .  . 

Rincon  Antonio  

Chivela              

Rio  Verde  

San  Geronimo  

Tehuan  tepee 

Santa  Cruz  

Salina  Cruz  

FROM     THE     CITY    OF     MEXICO     TO     PACHUCA,     BY    THE      HIDALGO     AN1> 

NORTHEASTERN    MEXICAN    RAILWAY. 

LINE  FINISHED. 

NORTHEASTERN    RAILWAY    FROM    MEXICO    TO    TIZAYUCA. 


19.000 

11.80 

O.OOO 

O  OO 

2264.76 

743O,  56 

Canal 

II  400 

7  10 

19  ooo 

II  8O 

2266  01 

7  4.74.  66 

Ojo  de  Agua  

5  200 

q.23 

3O.4GO 

18  QO 

2272.Q6 

7457  46 

Santa  Ana  

14.800 

9  .20 

3  5  .  6OO 

22.13 

2271.36 

7452.21 

Tizayuca  . 

CQ  4OO 

qi  qq 

2204.  O5 

71:28  62 

HIDALGO    RAILWAY    TO    TUXPAN. 


Tizayuca  

16  loo 

IO.OO 

10.800 

6.52 

66.5OO 

41.  qq 

2qd4  87 

76oq  38 

San  Augustin  

6  ooo 

q  Q2 

77  ^OO 

47  85 

2390  oo 

784.1  4.6 

Tepa 

8  400 

5  2q 

87  ^OO 

ei  77 

2438  08 

7QQQ  21 

Tecajete  

ii  900 

7.38 

01.700 

57  OO 

2538.00 

8^27  O4 

Somo  Riel  

10.600 

6.60 

103.600 

64.38 

2638.50 

8656.78 

Las  Lajas  .  .             

7  OOO 

4  S4. 

114  2OO 

7O  08 

25O4  8O 

8218  10 

Los  Romeros  

II  700 

7.28 

121  2OO 

75.32 

2302  80 

7850.64 

5.700 

3.54 

132.900 

82.60 

2221.72 

7280.  qq 

Tulancingo                        . 

7  2OO 

4  48 

138  6OO 

86  14 

2l8T.2Q 

7176  1Q 

Sototlan  

I45.8OO 

00.62 

2171.46 

7124.44 

FROM    TEPA  TO    PACHUCA,  A  BRANCH    OF    THE    HIDALGO  RAILROAD. 


Tepa  ...           .  . 

8  700 

e  4.1 

O  OOO 

O  OO 

24q8  08 

7QQQ  21 

Xochihuacan  

17  ^OO 

IO  75 

8  7OO 

5  4.1 

2380  06 

78o8.85 

Pachuca  

26.000 

16.16 

2420.99 

7493.15 

FROM    SAN    AUGUSTIN  TO    IROLO,  A  BRANCH  OF  THE  HIDALGO  RAILWAY. 


San  Agustin  .  ...  '  . 

14  600 

9  08 

O  OOO 

O  OO 

2390  oo 

7841  46 

Tlanalapa  

iq  700 

8  51 

14  600 

9  08 

24.q7  qo 

7QQ6  Q5 

Irolo  

28.300 

17-59 

2452.58 

8046.78 

Itineraries. 


265 


FROM    DURANGO    TO   MAZATLAN    BY    BRIDLE-PATH. 


PLACES. 

Altitudes. 

PLACES. 

Altitudes. 

Metres. 

Feet. 

Metres. 

Feet. 

Durango.              .        .  . 

1880.13 
1925.00 
igOO.OO 
1890.00 
1890.00 
1980.00 
2I2O.OO 
2180.00 
2260.00 
2O2O.OO 
2220.00 
2260.00 
2l8o.OO 
2330.00 
2340.0O 
2350.00 
2260.00 
2160.00 
223O.OO 
2270.00 
2280.00 
239O.OO 
244O.OO 
2390.00 
2IOO.OO 
1710.00 
2I6O.OO 
2O5O.OO 
2035.00 

6168.62 
6315.82 
6233.80 
62O1.OO 
6201.00 
6496.28 
6955.60 
7152.46 
7414.94 
6627.51 
7283.70 

7414.94 
7152.46 
7644.60 
7674.41 
7710.22 

7414.94 
7086.84 
7316.51 

7447-75 
7480.  56 
7841.46 
8005.51 
7841.46 
6889.98 
5610.43 
7086.84 
6725.94 
6676.72 

La  Ramona  

I22O.OO 
95O.OO 
630.00 
770.00 
1550.00 
1825.00 
l86o.OO 
I97O.OO 
1930.00 
1250.00 
1  1  2O.OO 
1010.00 

940.00 

2IO.OO 
130.00 
IIO.OO 
85.00 

55-00 
65.00 
50.00 
45-00 
62.00 
68.00 
30.00 
22.30 
15.50 
1-54 
o.oo 

4002.  76 
3116.90 
2067.00 
2526.34 
5085.47 
5987.73 
6102.57 
6463.47 
6332.23 
4101.19 
3674.66 
3313.76 
3084.09 
689.00 
426.52 
360.90 
278.88 
180.45 
213.26 
164.05 
147.64 
203.42 
223.11 

98.43 
73.16 
50.85 

5.05 
O.OO 

Salitre  

El  Chapote  

El  Salto  

Rio  del  Baluarte 

Arroyo  Seco  

La  Ventanita  

Camino  del  Taral 

Sotolito  

El  Escalon  

El  Carrizo  de  Adentro. 
El  Carrizo  de  Afuera.  . 
Las  Loberas 

Las  Indias  

Calzon  Roto    

El  Pino    

El  Venteadero  .  . 

Rio  Chico  

Puerta  de  los  Pilares  .  . 
Arroyo  del  Leon 

La  Palmita  
Los  Cerritos  

Palotillo     . 

Los  Mimbres  
Bucna  Vista     

Platanito  

Santa  Catarina  
El  Limon  

Los  Charcos  

Los  Navios 

El  Tecomate 

Navajas  

Tagarete 

Llano  Grande       

Rio  del  Presidio 

Cruz  de  Piedra  

Porras  

Coyotes  

Sigueros.        . 

El  Salto  

La  Cofradia 

Piloncillos  

Confite  

La  Florida  

La  Escondida  

Junta  de  los  Caminos.  . 
El  Tecomate  

Las  Higueras 

Las  Conchas  

Chavarria                     . 

Carboneras 

La  Cienega           . 

Palos  Prietos 

Las  Botijas  

Mazatlan  

La  Escondida.  .  . 

FROM    MANZANILLO    TO    GUADALAJARA    BY    WAGON    ROAD. 


Manzanillo       

o  oo 

o  oo 

Ciudad  Guzman  (Zapot- 

Cerro  del  Vigia  

125  oo 

410.11 

lan)  

1412  oo 

46*32  7O 

Cola  de  Iguana 

CQ  OO 

164.  05 

Santa  Catarina 

141  2  OO 

El  Ciruelo  

71;  OO 

246  07 

La  Cuesta 

1450  oo 

75.00 

346.07 

San  Nicolas  

1300  oo 

4265  2^ 

Las  Trojes                  .  . 

IOO  OO 

028  OQ 

Amatitlan 

I  ^25  OO 

Valenzuela     

125  oo 

410.11 

Sayula  

1350  oo 

4J4/«Z:> 

4429  28 

175  oo 

574  16 

Ojo  de  Agua  

1360  oo 

4/l62  OQ 

312.00 

1023.65 

Cofradia  

J375  oo 

45  1  1  *?O 

La  Presa  

362.00 

1  187  70 

Techolula 

I"37C  OO 

45  1  1   1O 

Colima     

560.00 

1837.33 

Cuevitas  

1360  oo 

4462  oo 

La  Puerta 

650  oo 

2132  62 

El  Cuemasate 

1-225  OO 

San  Toaquin  

650.00 

2132  62 

El  Crucero  

1325  oo 

-4-7,17  25 

850.00 

2788  81 

Cebollas  

I  -3  CO  OO 

442Q  28 

San  Geronirno     .        . 

900  oo 

2Q52  85 

Los  Pozos 

I'3.25  OO 

,1-7/17  2C 

Los  Alcaracos     .      ... 

i  ioo  oo 

^6OQ  O4  ! 

Chimaltitan  

1325  oo 

4^47  2? 

La  Queseria  

1162  oo 

3812.46  1 

Ocotan  

I-J-IO  OO 

4^6^  66 

1175.00 

3854.61 

Santa  Ana  Acatlan.  .  .  . 

I35O.OO 

4-120  28 

Barranca  Cachepehuate 

Q7C  OO 

3108.02 

Puerta  

1  500  oo 

4Q2I  42 

San  M  arcos  

085.00 

3231.73 

Cofradia  

1512  oo 

4o6o  7O 

Barranca  de  Beltran 

850  oo 

2788  81 

Santa  Cruz 

1475  OO 

4o8?  O5 

Playa    

1025  oo 

^362  Q7 

Arenal  

1600  oo 

542Q  52 

Barranca  Platanar.  .  .  . 

050  oo 

3Il6  QO 

San  Agustin  

1575  OO 

5l67  4O 

Loma     . 

i  225  oo 

4OIQ  1  6 

La  Calera     . 

1575  OO 

5l67  4O 

Barranca  de  Atenquique 
Ocote  Gacho  

1025.00 
1250  oo 

3362.97 

4IOI.IQ 

Puente  de  Santa  Maria. 

1550.00 

1500  oo 

5085.47 
4Q2I  42 

Pedregal  

I  o  7  c  oo 

4m  i  w 

266 


Statistical  IRotcs  on 


FROM   TEHUACAN    TO    OAXACA    AND    PUERTO   ANGEL   BY  WAGON    ROAD. 


PLACES. 

Altitudes. 

PLACES. 

Altitudes. 

Metres. 

Feet. 

Metres. 

Feet. 

Tehuacan                  .  • 

I66O.OO 
1480.00 
1320.00 
1  1  2O.OO 
1060.00 
960.00 
9OO.OO 
860.00 
QOO.OO 
620.00 
600.00 
730.00 
7OO.OO 
680.00 
600.00 
580.00 
560.00 
700.00 
62O.OO 
620.00 
620.00 

620.00 
540.00 
54O.OO 
680.00 
660.00 
66O.OO 
750.00 
720.00 
7IO.OO 
I24O.OO 
1360.00 
1500.00 
1400.00 
1600.00 
1840.00 
igOO.OO 
2O2O.OO 
2220.00 
2O8O.OO 
2l6o.OO 
2100.00 

5446.38 
4855.81 
4330.85 
3674.66 
3477.81 
3149.71 
2952.85 
2821.62 
2952.85 
2034.19 

1968.57 
2395.10 
2296.67 
2231.05 
1968.57 
1902.95 
1837.33 
2296.67 

2034.19 
2034.19 
2034.19 

2034.19 
I77L7I 
I77L7I 
2231.05 
2165.43 
2165.43 
2460.  72 
2362.29 
2329.48 
4068.38 
4462.09 
4921.42 
3412.19 
5249-52 
6036.95 
6233.70 
6627.51 
7283.70 
6824.37 
7086.84 
6889.98 

Tierra  Blanca  

2000.00 
1660.00 
I7OO.OO 
l68o.OO 
l66o.OO 
1640.00 
1540.00 
1540.00 
1530.00 
1600.00 
1900.00 
1830.00 
1720.00 
1700.00 
1700.00 
1590.00 
1540.00 
l6oo.OO 
1840.00 
iSlO.OO 
1930.00 
1840.00 
1780.00 
ISOO.OO 
2230.00 
2400.00 
2600.00 
2800.00 
3l6o.OO 
3000.00 
2780.00 
2340.00 
2720.00 
25OO.OO 
800.00 

900.00 
830.00 
750.00 
530.00 
340.00 
l6o.OO 
0.00 

6561.89 
5446.38 
5577.62 
5512.00 
5446.38 
5380.76 
5052.66 
5052.66 
5019.85 
5249.52 
6233.70 
6004.  14 
5643.24 
5577-62 
5577.62 
5216.71 
5052.66 
5249-52 
6036.95 
5938.52 
6332.23 
6036.95 
5840.33 
5905.71 
7316.51 
7874.27 
8530.46 
9186.65 
10367.79 
9842.84 
9121.04 
7677.41 
8858.56 
8202.36 
2624.76 

2952.85 
2723.19 
2460.72 
1738.90 
1115-52 
524-95 
o.oo 

La  Huerta      

Arroyo  de  Buena  Vista. 
San  Sebastian       .  .    . 

San  Pablo  Huitzo  .  .    . 

Santiago  Huitzo  

Camino  de  Calipan.  .  .  . 

Villa  de  Etla 

Dolores    .  . 

San  Antonio      ... 

Panzacola  

Hacienda  de  Ayotla.  .  . 
Rio  de  Reyes 

Oaxaca 

San  Agustin  Juntas.  .  . 
Coyotepec  

Tecomavaca    

Rio  Salado        

Cuspide  

Campanario  

Santo  Tomas  Jaliera.  . 
Ocotlan      

Organo                     . 

Pajarito    .        

Magdalena  

"Gavilan      

San  Martin  

Paraie  Blanco 

Rio  Coapa 

Rio  Seco 

E  jutla       

Chonoslar      

Arrogante  

Rancho  de  Urrutia  
Rancho  de  Cuagulotal. 
Rancho  de  los  Obos.  .  . 
Hacienda  de  Guendu- 
lain                .        . 

Cliichovo               . 

Zopilote  

Cuspide  

Tlacuache 

Xepehuaje  

Rio  Apoala  

Miahuatlan  
Chapaneco 

Rio  Tomellin 

Balconcillo                     . 

Agua  del  Sol  
San  Jose  del  Pacifico.  . 
Garganta  del  Encino.  . 
Tres  Cruces              .  .  . 

Rancho  del  Chilar.  .  .  . 
Infiemillo  

Don  Dominguillo 

Arroyo  Dominguillo  .  . 
Arroyo  de  Nopala  .... 
El  Pochote 

Rancho  de  Canoas.  .  .  . 
San  Miguel  Xuchistepec 
Rio  de  San  Jose 

Canton  de  Buena  Vista. 
Cuspide  

Cerro  de  Santa  Ana.  .  . 
Cerro  de  San  Pedro  .  .  . 
El  Porvenir 

Puentedela  Joya  
Venta  Vieja  

Garganta  del  Cerro  de 

Paredones          ... 

Llano  del  Timbre  
Cieneguilla 

La  Providencia             . 

La  Soledad      

Portezuelo           .  . 

San  Jose  Totoltepec.  .  . 

Las  Trancas  

Carbonera 

Pochutla      .        ... 

Ojo  de  Agua 

Puerto  Angel  

THE    VALLEY    OF    MEXICO'S   DRAINAGE.1 

Mexico  is  finishing  a  great  work,  the  drainage  of  the  valley  where 
the  capital  city  is  located,  which  has  required  for  its  completion  nearly 
three  hundred  years  and  many  millions  of  dollars,  and  has  cost  the 
lives  of  hundreds  of  thousands  of  men.  The  necessity,  importance, 

1  This  article  was  published  in  the  Engineering  Magazine  of  New  York  for 
January,  1895  (vol.  viii.,  No  4),  but  has  since  been  revised  and  considerably  enlarged. 


Iflaileg  of  /IDesico's  Drainage,  267 

and  magnitude  of  this  work,  which  will  be  classed  among  the  grandest 
achievements  of  men,  and  the  nearness  of  its  completion,  induce  me 
to  write  this  paper,  which  I  hope  will  give  some  idea  of  its  scope  and 
purpose.  I  do  not  pretend  to  originality,  as  my  work  to  some  extent 
has  been  one  of  compilation  from  different  monographs,  which  have 
appeared  from  time  to  time,  and  from  some  official  publications  of  the 
Mexican  Government. 

Topographical  Conditions  of  the  Valley  of  Mexico. — The  Valley  of 
Mexico  is  an  immense  basin,  of  approximately  circular  shape  with  one 
extreme  diameter  of  about  sixty  miles,  completely  bounded  by  high 
mountains,  and  having  only  two  or  three  quite  high  passes  out  of  it. 
No  water  drains  out  of  the  basin.  The  surface  of  this  valley  has  a  mean 
altitude  above  the  sea  of  7413  feet  and  an  area  of  about  2220  square 
miles. 

Mountain  ranges  rise  on  every  side,  making  a  great  corral  of  rock 
containing  dozens  of  villages  and  hamlets,  with  the  ancient  capital  in 
the  centre.  In  times  past  the  fires  of  volcanoes  licked  up  the  earth, 
and  such  fires  still  live  in  the  mammoth  Popocatapetl,  from  whose 
great  crater  sulphur  fumes  and  smoke  with  jets  of  flame  have  poured 
through  the  centuries. 

The  valley  thus  hemmed  in  with  solid  walls  of  rock  had  been  an 
inland  sea  for  many  cycles,  and  during  the  early  existence  of  man  here 
the  salt  waters  spread  over  a  large  extent  of  the  depression.  The 
waters  have  been  gradually  lessening  by  seepage  and  evaporation,  and 
the  Aztec  pilgrims  coming  from  the  north  in  the  fourteenth  century, 
having  received  a  sign  that  they  were  to  build  their  queen-of-the-world 
city  on  a  small  island  of  the  sea,  set  about  building  dikes  and  combat- 
ing the  overflow  of  the  waters. 

Evaporation  is  so  excessive  at  certain  periods  of  the  year  that 
malaria,  consequent  on  drought,  was  far  more  dreaded  by  the  inhabit- 
ants than  the  periodical  floods,  and  thousands  perished  annually,  so 
that  proper  drainage  was  an  absolute  necessity  for  the  preservation  of 
health. 

Work  done  by  the  Indians. — Nearly  fifty  years  before  the  discov- 
ery of  America,  which  took  place  in  1492,  Netzahualcoyotl,  saw  the 
necessity  for  a  drainage  canal,  and  commenced  the  work  in  1450. 
He  constructed  an  immense  dike  to  divide  the  fresh  from  the  salt- 
water lakes  of  the  valley.  The  City  of  Mexico  was  at  this  time  the 
centre  of  the  Aztec  nation,  and  was  built  on  floating  structures,  like 
rafts,  on  the  water  in  the  numerous  islets  on  the  margins  of  the  lakes, 
so  that  in  the  event  of  the  water  rising  or  the  city  being  subjected  to  a 
state  of  siege,  the  whole  city  would  float.  Mexico  City  now  occupies 
the  site  of  the  old  Aztec  capital. 

The  waters  of  these  lakes  were  liable  to  disturbances  of  all  kinds; 


268  Statistical  Betes  on 

thus  it  is  recorded  by  Prescott  in  his  History  of  the  Conquest  of  Mexico  : 
"In  1510  the  great  lake  of  Texcoco,  without  the  occurrence  of  a 
tempest  or  earthquake,  or  any  other  visible  cause,  became  violently 
agitated,  overflowed  its  banks,  and,  pouring  into  the  streets  of  Mexico, 
swept  off  many  of  the  buildings  by  the  fury  of  its  water." 

When  Cortez  arrived  in  Mexico  from  Spain  in  1519  to  take  posses- 
sion of  the  country  in  the  name  of  the  King  of  Spain,  he  found,  to  his 
great  surprise,  the  defense  of  the  city  admirably  arranged,  and  an 
almost  enchanting  view  of  flowering  islets  forming  the  floating  capital. 
Little  towns  and  villages  lay  half-concealed  by  the  foliage,  and  from 
the  distance  these  looked  like  companies  of  wild  swans  riding  quietly 
on  the  waves. 

A  scene  so  new  and  wonderful  filled  the  rude  heart  of  the  Spaniard 
with  amazement.  So  astonished  was  he  at  the  extent  of  the  water  of 
Lake  Texcoco  that  he  describes  it  as  "  a  sea  that  embraces  the  whole 
valley,"  but  upon  hearing  that  it  was  a  lake,  with  a  mean  depth  of  a 
few  yards,  he  gave  orders  to  cut  a  way  through  the  dike  and  destroy 
the  aqueduct  of  Chapultepec.  The  central  dike  dividing  the  fresh 
from  the  salt  water  lake  was  of  such  dimensions  as  to  serve  Cortez  as  a 
roadway  for  his  army. 

Prescott,  in  the  work  before  alluded  to,  page  297,  says:  "  Leaving 
the  mainland,  the  Spaniards  came  on  the  great  dike  or  causeway,  which 
stretches  some  four  or  five  miles  in  length,  and  divides  Lake  Chalco 
from  Xochimilco  on  the  west.  It  was  a  lance  in  breadth  in  the 
narrowest  part,  and  in  some  places  wide  enough  for  eight  horses  to  ride 
abreast.  It  was  a  solid  structure  of  stone  and  lime,  running  directly 
through  the  lake,  and  struck  the  Spaniards  as  one  of  the  most  remark- 
able works  they  had  seen  in  the  country. ' ' 

Having  cut  the  dikes  and  drained  the  lake,  the  "  floating  city  "  was 
at  once  besieged,  and  where  originally  stood  the  great  temple  of  the 
Aztecs  a  Christian  temple  was  afterward  raised.  The  Spaniards, 
finding  themselves  in  complete  possession,  proceeded  to  erect  the  new 
City  of  Mexico,  and  building  on  the  plan  adopted  by  them  at  home, 
they  cut  down  the  points  of  the  floating  islands  and  by  gradual  exten- 
sion soon  placed  the  town  below  the  mean  average  level  of  the  lake. 
Hence  arose  the  great  difficulties  of  the  drainage  of  the  Valley  of 
Mexico. 

One  of  the  immense  dikes  built  by  King  Netzahualcoyotl  was  ten 
miles  long.  It  divided  Lake  Texcoco  into  two  parts.  Of  the  two  lakes 
thus  formed  one  was  allowed  to  remain  salt,  but  the  other  was  fresh- 
ened by  letting  only  fresh  water  enter  by  the  streams  flowing  in, 
the  water  for  the  use  of  the  city  being  taken  from  this  latter.  Little  by 
little  the  waters  have  subsided  since  that  period,  and  have  been  fought 
back,  until  now  they  are  confined  to  six  great  lakes — Chalco,  Xochi- 


of  /IDejico's  Bratnaoe,  269 

milco,  Texcoco,  Xaltocan,  San  Cristobal,  and  Zumpango.  Each  of 
these  lakes  is  fed  by  streams  which  have  little  volume  during  the  dry 
season,  but  which  in  the  rainy  season  swell  to  considerable  size,  and 
at  times  overflow  the  valleys.  The  lake  of  Zumpango  was  the  most 
dangerous  of  these,  for  it  received  the  waters  of  the  Cuautitlan  River, 
— a  river  draining  a  large  area  of  country,  and  having  during  the  rainy 
season  a  great  volume  of  water.  This  river  has  been  turned  into  the 
cut  of  Nochistongo,  and  has  ceased  to  threaten  Mexico  and  its  environs 
with  its  overflow. 

From  these  topographical  conditions  frequent  floodings  of  the  old 
Aztec  city  and  of  the  Spanish  capital,  situated  almost  at  the  lowest 
point  of  the  valley,  were  sure  to  come  in  times  of  unusually  heavy 
rains.  In  early  days,  when  the  Aztecs  lived  in  the  middle  of  Lake 
Mexico,  when  their  temples  and  wigwams  were  built  on  piles  and  the 
streets  were  often  only  canals,  the  periodical  overflows  from  the  upper 
lakes  were  a  matter  of  small  concern,  though  even  then  the  Nahua 
engineers  were  called  upon  to  protect  the  city  by  dikes.  But  when  by 
evaporation,  by  filling  in  at  the  site  of  the  city,  by  lessened  waters,  due 
to  the  fissures  caused  by  earthquakes,  Lake  Mexico  had  disappeared, 
and  the  city  had  come  to  be  built  on  the  spongy  soil,  above  all,  when 
the  short-sighted  choice  of  Cortez  had  been  confirmed  and  the  capital 
of  New  Spain  had  come  to  stand  on  the  ruins  of  the  Aztec  town, 
increasing  rapidly  in  population  and  wealth, — it  became  a  serious 
matter  that  on  an  average  of  once  in  twenty-five  years  the  streets 
should  be  from  two  to  six  feet  under  water  for  an  indefinite  time. 

Work  done  by  the  Spaniards. — From  1519  to  1553  the  Spaniards 
were  busily  engaged  in  building  Mexico,  and  another  grand  dike, 
similar  to  that  built  by  Netzahualcoyotl  in  1450,  was  formed  around 
the  city;  this  protection  proved  insufficient,  for  in  1580  another  inun- 
dation took  place.  The  Viceroy  of  the  day,  Senor  Don  Martin 
Enriquez  de  Almanza,  assisted  by  engineers,  engaged  to  find  an  outlet 
for  the  waters  north  of  the  valley.  During  the  time  they  were  thus 
engaged,  important  facts  were  gleaned  respecting  the  River  Cuautitlan, 
and  its  curious  behavior  at  the  foot  of  Nochistongo,  whence  it  doubled 
its  course  at  a  certain  altitude  and  ran  toward  Lake  Texcoco,  instead 
of  into  its  own  lake  of  Xaltocan.  The  scheme  formed  by  Enriquez 
de  Almanza  to  remedy  this  evil  was  kept  in  abeyance,  as  his  services 
were  required  in  Peru. 

In  the  year  1604  a  serious  inundation  attacked  Mexico  City.  The 
Marquis  de  Montes  Claros  did  all  in  his  power  to  carry  out  the  plan  of 
Senor  Don  Martin  Enriquez  to  relieve  the  rivers  of  the  north  and  of 
the  valley  of  the  excess  of  water  from  the  central  and  south  lakes, 
which  are  of  higher  altitudes.  The  pros  and  cons  of  this  plan  were 
beset  with  many  great  difficulties,  and  respecting  one  of  the  methods 


270  Statistical  motes  on 

tried,  mention  must  be  made  of  a  dike  of  great  strength,  constructed 
to  prevent  any  excess  or  overflow  of  water  from  destroying  the  town 
of  Zumpango  and  washing  away  its  crops.  This  dike,  which  was  to 
check  the  strong  current  of  the  river  Pachuca,  would  also  direct  the 
river  Cuautitlan  to  Mexico,  direct  the  rivers  north  into  Zumpango,  and 
would  inundate  that  verdant  district,  and  probably  submerge  the  town ; 
whereas,  to  divert  them  into  Lake  Texcoco  would  submerge  Mexico. 
To  prevent  this  evil  it  was  decided  to  make  a  tunnel ;  but  here,  as  in 
all  countries  and  in  all  ages,  engineers,  when  engaged  in  any  work  of 
magnitude,  and  of  a  different  character  from  that  commonly  known, 
always  find  theorists  to  offer  objections,  and  thus  stop  the  way  to 
actual  progress.  This  was  the  case  in  Mexico  City. 

In  1607  another  inundation,  spreading  over  the  whole  valley,  oc- 
curred, and,  as  all  the  dikes  and  other  defences  were  swept  away, 
caused  a  panic  of  terror  among  the  inhabitants.  The  Marquis  de 
Salinas  was  then  Viceroy  at  Mexico  City,  and  determined  to  carry 
out  the  plan  of  Sefior  Don  Martin  Enriquez,  being  assisted  by  an 
engineer  of  great  repute  named  Enrico  Martinez,  and  also  solicited 
and  obtained  the  co-operation  of  Father  Sanchez,  of  the  Society  of 
Jesus.  These  three  men,  after  many  consultations,  formulated  the 
plan  of  embracing  the  whole  of  the  lakes  of  the  plain  into  one  main 
channel  of  detention,  and  an  outlet  as  required  to  keep  the  same  under 
such  control  as  to  have  at  all  times  an  abundance  of  water  for  use. 
The  plan,  broadly  speaking,  was  to  draw  off  the  water  from  the  south 
lakes  which  are  at  higher  levels  to  those  of  the  north,  and  to  make 
them  serve,  by  the  scour  the  velocity  of  the  water  would  cause,  to 
deepen  the  passage  for  their  exit,  and,  at  the  same  time,  assist  the 
making  of  the  grand  canal 

Great  opposition  to  this  plan  was  offered  on  the  score  of  economy, 
and  many  insisted  that  the  inundations  were  solely  due  to  the  waters 
of  Cuautitlan  and  the  freshets  of  Pachuca,  and  if  these  were  directed 
north  no  more  was  needed,  while  the  people  of  Zumpango  tried  to 
show  that  no  more  was  needed  to  inundate  their  town  and  submerge 
the  district.  The  Viceroy  then  requested  Enrico  Martinez  to  induce 
Father  Sanchez  to  submit  some  modifications  of  his  former  scheme. 

The  plan  was  modified,  and  on  November  28,  1607,  Enrico  Martinez 
started  operations  on  the  modified  plan,  and  in  about  eleven  months 
6600  metres  (4  ^  miles)  of  canal,  with  a  transverse  section  of  3.50 
metres  (n-J  feet)  wide,  and  a  depth  of  4.20  metres  (13}  feet),  was 
completed.  At  the  same  time  other  important  drainage  works  were 
being  made;  the  passage  was  opened  from  Boca  de  San  Gregorio  to 
Salto  de  Tula;  this  was  8600  metres  (5!  miles)  long,  as  well  as  two 
canals  as  aqueducts  6-J  miles  long,  one  for  Lake  Zumpango  and  the 
other  for  the  river  Cuautitlan  from  Teoloyucan  to  Huehuetoca. 


ZTbe  Dalles  of  flDejico's  Dratnaae,  271 

In  December,  1608,  in  the  presence  of  the  Viceroy  Don  Luis  de 
Velasco  and  the  Archbishop  of  Mexico,  Enrico  Martinez  inaugurated 
the  outlet  of  the  waters,  the  whole  of  the  work  just  described  being; 
executed  in  one  year.  Humboldt  tells  us  that  fifteen  thousand  native 
Indians  were  employed  on  these  works. 

In  spite  of  the  great  good  these  works  brought  to  the  people,  there 
was  an  outcry  for  economy,  but  it  is  certain  that  other  motives 
prompted  the  disturbance  and  the  attempt  to  harass  and  hamper  the 
Viceroy.  The  object  was  to  prevent  a  grant  of  money  from  being 
made  to  pay  for  the  lining  of  the  canal  with  cement.  This  was  found 
to  be  necessary,  as  the  greater  part  of  the  work  was  excavated  in  marl, 
and  the  liberated  waters  ran  with  such  velocity  that  the  symmetry  of 
the  tunnel  was  soon  destroyed,  and  its  passage  and  usefulness  lessened 
by  the  debris  that  obstructed  the  fairway.  This  state  of  things  was 
brought  so  forcibly  home  to  the  objectors  that  a  small  sum  of  money 
was  reluctantly  granted,  sufficient  to  patch  up  the  tunnel  in  places 
where  the  rush  of  waters  had  made  the  most  havoc,  hydraulic  cement 
or  mortar  being  used,  but  the  sum  granted  proved  to  be  totally 
inadequate,  and  for  want  of  more  money  the  tunnel  was  rendered  per- 
fectly useless  by  falling  obstructions.  This  occurred  in  the  year  1609. 
Gossips  and  theorists  then  united  to  run  down  the  scheme,  although  it 
was  conceded  that  the  work  had  averted  a  terrible  inundation  or  sub- 
mergence of  Mexico  City. 

A  few  years  elapsed  before  the  question  of  continuing  the  works  for 
the  tunnel  again  caused  excitement;  but  a  general  feeling  grew  up  that 
the  work  of  the  tunnel  should  be  continued.  The  opposition  was  strong 
enough  to  obtain  the  hearing  of  an  appeal  in  Madrid,  with  the  result' 
that  the  Spanish  Government  in  1614  procured  the  services  of  a  Dutch 
engineer,  named  Adrian  van  Boot,  to  proceed  to  Mexico  City  to 
examine  and  report  on  the  canal  works,  and  to  submit  a  plan  ta 
remedy  the  evils.  As  the  result  of  his  labors  he  condemned  the  plan 
of  Father  Sanchez,  and  recommended  that  the  old  means  of  defence 
used  by  the  Indians  should  again  be  adopted,  and  that  dams  and  dikes 
should  be  thrown  up  at  once.  This  report  had  the  effect  of  annoying 
almost  everybody,  and  was  the  means  of  much  fruitless  discussion.  In 
this  dilemma  the  Spanish  Government,  when  appealed  to,  confessed 
they  were  unable  to  advise  the  Viceroy  of  Mexico  what  to  do,  but 
sent  the  Marquis  of  Gelves  to  Mexico  to  see  into  matters,  and  he, 
having  unbounded  faith  in  the  ability  of  the  Dutch  engineer,  Adrian 
van  Boot,  and  hoping  to  keep  money  in  the  treasury,  ordered  Enrico 
Martinez  to  close  up  the  tunnel  completely,  and  to  return  the  rivers  to 
their  natural  courses;  but  before  these  orders  were  half  executed  the 
enormous  rush  of  waters  grew  so  alarming  that  he  had  to  accept 
again  Enrico  Martinez's  plan  over  that  of  Adrian  van  Boot.  The 


272  Statistical  IRotes  on 

marquis  was  soon  after  deposed,  his  place  being  taken  by  the  Marquis 
de  Cerralvo,  whose  first  act  was  to  set  Martinez  free  at  the  request  of 
the  city  council  who  provided  him  with  means  of  continuing  his  work 
on  the  canal  and  tunnel.  The  Viceroy  revoked  his  predecessor's 
order  and  issued  another  to  open  up  the  tunnel,  and  that  with  all  speed, 
on  his  personal  responsibility.  Although  Cerralvo  gave  these  orders, 
he  forgot  to  give  Martinez  the  money  to  carry  them  out,  and,  as  a  con- 
sequence, the  works  remained  in  a  deplorable  condition. 

The  tunnel  was  blocked  up  by  this  cause,  and  Martinez  was  cruelly 
scored  for  not  having  done  his  work  aright  by  the  very  ones  who  had 
refused  to  give  him  the  necessary  material  for  it.  He  bravely  essayed 
to  repair  the  damage,  but  the  water-soaked  condition  of  the  ground 
gave  no  resistance  for  the  building  of  the  needed  walls,  while  death 
mowed  down  the  enslaved  workers.  They  were  crushed  to  death  by 
the  frequent  cavings  in  of  the  loose  soil,  or  were  sent  to  the  grave  by 
the  deadly  damps.  Finally,  the  charge  being  made  that  the  builder 
was  blocking  up  the  tunnel  in  revenge,  he  was  thrown  into  prison, 
where  he  languished  for  many  months.  As  there  was  no  one  else 
available  who  could  carry  on  the  great  work,  he  was  afterwards  released 
and  again  put  in  charge.  It  was  then  decided  that,  the  tunnel  being 
completely  useless,  the  next  thing  to  be  done  would  be  to  make  a  great 
cut  down  to  the  tunnel  and  thus  open  it  out.  This  entailed  the  making 
of  an  excavation  fourteen  miles  in  length  with  an  average  depth  of  one 
hundred  and  eighty  feet  and  width  of  four  hundred  feet. 

On  June  20,  1629,  the  ever  troublesome  river  Cuautitlan  over  flowed 
and  inundated  the  north  of  the  plain,  and  swept  with  it  other  streams 
into  Lake  Texcoco.  In  the  September  following  the  increase  of  the 
water  was  greater  than  ever  had  been  known.  The  city  was  so  sud- 
denly and  completely  submerged  that  thirty  thousand  persons  perished, 
the  bodies  floating  about  the  streets  for  some  time  after.  The  destruc- 
tion of  property  and  life,  consequent  on  the  inundation,  was  so  great 
generally,  and  affected  the  tunnel  to  such  an  extent,  that  during  a 
period  of  five  years  there  was  scarcely  any  reduction  in  the  height  of 
the  water,  and  the  water  in  the  city  remained  during  all  this  time  as 
high  as  the  second  story  of  the  houses;  the  slight  difference  in  the 
heighth  of  the  water  being  caused  by  evaporation. 

The  Spanish  Government  at  Madrid  gave  orders  to  change  the 
capital  to  a  better  and  more  secure  site.  To  this  suggestion  the  citizens 
demurred,  saying,  in  effect,  that  to  insure  complete  security  an  outlay 
of  only  $3,000,000  was  necessary,  this  being  the  estimated  cost  of  com- 
pleting the  tunnel,  whereas  to  build  a  new  city  would  involve  an  outlay 
of  $50,000,000,  with  a  loss  of  another  $50,000,000  in  leaving  the  old 
one. 

Several  plans  were  now  submitted  in  opposition  to  that  of  Enrico 


IDalleg  of  /IDesico's  Drainage.  273 

Martinez,  and  one  by  Simon  Mendez  was  accepted,  his  plan  being  to 
direct  all  the  waters  of  the  valley  by  one  canal  into  the  neck  of  the 
Tula,  the  spot  selected  by  Martinez  for  his  outlet.  It  was  soon  dis- 
covered that  the  plan  of  Simon  Mendez  was  far  too  costly,  and  as  the 
money  that  could  be  spared  was  practically  melting  away  without  per- 
ceptible progress  being  made,  Enrico  Martinez  was  again  requested  to 
carry  out  the  work  as  arranged  with  Father  Sanchez. 

The  next  Viceroy,  the  Marquis  of  Cadereita,  was  most  desirous 
to  see  the  work  of  the  tunnel  pushed  on ;  but  however  enthusiastic  he 
may  have  been,  lack  of  funds  prevented  him  from  giving  effect  to  his 
desires.  The  work  continued  very  slowly,  Martinez  being  unable  to 
do  any  work  at  the  tunnel,  and  he  contented  himself  with  improving  the 
canal  by  lining  it  in  bad  places  with  cement.  Martinez  struggled  on 
for  thirty-seven  years  with  this  work,  and  died  unnoticed  and  un- 
cared  for.  All  trace  of  his  place  of  final  rest  was  lost. 

In  1637  an  earthquake  made  sad  havoc  with  the  tunnel  works,  and 
for  lack  of  funds  no  repairs  could  take  place ;  but  when  funds  were 
obtainable  workmen  could  not  be  procured,  the  earthquakes  and  inun- 
dations having  carried  off  many  thousands  of  these  poor  fellows.  The 
survivors  lacked  heart  to  return  to  such  an  unfortunate  and,  as  they 
thought,  accursed  work. 

In  the  year  1640  the  work  was  being  pressed  on  by  men  from  the 
prisons,  under  the  direction  of  the  Franciscan  monks,  and  carried  on, 
with  varying  results,  in  this  way  for  thirty-five  years,  until  Senor  Don 
Martin  Solis  was  made  head  of  the  municipal  council.  He  being  an 
avowed  enemy  to  the  Franciscans,  sent  them  away,  and  undertook  the 
superintendence  of  the  work  himself;  but  his  method  of  treating  the 
prisoners  was  so  harsh  and  cruel  that  they  broke  out  into  open  revolt, 
and  the  works  were  threatened.  Therefore,  to  save  the  works  and  his 
own  life,  he  consented  to  the  return  of  the  Franciscans.  It  is  estimated 
that  up  to  this  time  some  two  hundred  thousand  men  lost  their  lives  on 
this  work.  The  Franciscans  steadily,  but  slowly,  worked  on,  always 
with  a  very  limited  exchequer,  until  1767,  when  there  remained  some 
1935  metres  (i-J-  miles)  still  to  be  completed.  A  contract  was  entered 
into  to  finish  this  work  in  five  years  for  $800,000;  but  instead  of  five 
years  it  took  twenty-two  years,  and,  instead  of  8  metres  (25  feet  wide), 
as  contracted  for,  it  was  only  3  metres  (9  feet  10  inches)  wide. 

The  Spaniards  continued  the  work  in  other  hands  for  one  hundred 
and  fifty  years  before  the  task  of  opening  the  cut  was  completed. 
Spasmodic  work  for  a  century  and  a  half  led  at  last  to  the  accomplish- 
ment of  this  project  in  1789.  The  old  tunnel  of  Martinez  is  now  a 
gigantic  trench  from  30  to  160  feet  in  depth  and  some  300  feet  broad 
in  some  places,  and  is  known  as  the  Tajo  de  Nochistongo.  The  im- 
mediate vicinity  of  the  workings  was  depopulated  of  its  native  inhabit- 


274  Statistical  IRotes  on 

ants  by  the  insatiable  demands  of  the  killing  labor,  and  recruits  were 
then  drawn  from  Puebla  and  other  thickly  populated  Indian  centres. 
Great  prison  barracks  were  built  on  the  bare  hills,  and  here  all  the 
criminals  were  sent  to  enter  the  work.  The  ones  in  charge  were  in- 
different with  regard  to  the  lives  entrusted  to  their  care,  and  the 
slaughter,  of  which  scant  record  remains  in  the  parish  burial  books, 
and  which  resulted  from  a  combination  of  defects  in  appliances  for 
both  the  safety  and  the  comfort  of  the  workmen,  was  terrific.  As  the 
burial  trenches  were  filled  with  new  dead,  the  depths  of  the  cut  were 
tenanted  by  new  laborers. 

The  victims  of  three  years  of  bondage  numbered  fully  two  hundred 
thousand  ere  the  work  was  done.  Yet  the  results  were  but  slight,  only 
the  excess  of  water  from  the  highest  lakes  and  streams  being  carried 
off.  However,  the  danger  from  inundations  of  the  city  has  been  very 
materially  decreased  by  the  Nochistongo  opening,  and  no  more  deluges 
have  occurred  since  its  completion. 

Still  the  fact  that  the  bottom  of  the  cut  was  thirty  feet  higher  than 
the  surface  of  Texcoco,  the  lowest  lying  of  the  lakes,  left  the  city  in 
danger  of  inundation,  as  Lake  Texcoco  is  constantly  filling  up  at  the 
rate  of  one  and  one-half  inches  a  year  and  is  now  but  a  few  feet  below 
the  level  of  the  main  plaza  of  the  city. 

The  drainage  works  had  long  been  a  heavy  burden  upon  the  Mexi- 
can treasury.  Up  to  1637  Bancroft  estimates  that  $3,000,000  had  been 
expended.  Up  to  the  year  1800  the  outlay  had  reached  $6,247,670. 
Up  to  1830  the  total  expenditure  was  $8,000,000. 

Work  done  by  the  Mexican  Government. — The  problem  which  the 
Mexican  Government  had  to  face  was  very  different  from  that  which 
confronted  Martinez  in  1607.  The  question  of  preventing  submergence 
is  practically  solved.  The  work  of  Martinez,  unsatisfactory  as  it  was, 
did  a  great  deal  to  solve  it.  Since  his  day  the  area  of  the  lakes  has 
been  gradually  diminishing.  The  rapid  evaporation  in  the  rarefied  air 
and  under  the  direct  sun  of  the  valley  partly  accounts  for  this.  Twice 
the  water  in  Lake  Texcoco  has  almost  entirely  disappeared,  leaving 
only  a  sea  of  mud  and  a  small  pool.  The  great  problem  which  the 
Mexican  Government  has  now  solved  is  not  how  to  prevent  an  inflow 
of  water,  but  how  to  provide  an  outlet  for  sewage.  The  danger  to 
be  averted  was  not  that  of  drowning,  but  that  of  dying  from  the  plague. 

Lake  Texcoco  more  than  any  other  now  menaces  the  security  of  the 
capital.  The  unwise  cutting  down  of  forests  since  the  Spanish  con- 
quest permits  the  waters  pouring  down  into  the  valley  to  bring  with 
them  annually  great  quantities  of  alluvial  matter,  which  have  so  much' 
raised  the  lake  bottom  and  the  water  level  that  inundations  have  been 
of  frequent  occurrence.  The  general  level  of  the  City  of  Mexico  is 
only  6.56  feet  above  the  surface  of  the  lake.  The  rainy  season  lasts 


MAP  OF  THE  VALLEY  OF  MEXICO,  SHOWING  THE  CANAL  AND  TUNNEL. 


Ube  Dalles  of  flDegico's  Drainage.  275 

from  June  to  October  inclusive.  During  this  season  five  times  as 
much  water  falls  as  during  the  rest  of  the  year,  evaporation  can  no 
longer  compensate  for  rainfall,  and  the  valley  is  more  or  less  flooded. 

Originally  built  in  the  midst  of  a  lake,  the  city  has  been  left  on  dry 
ground  by  the  receding  waters.  Lake  Texcoco, — some  three  miles 
distant, — Chalco,  and  Xochimilco  have  altitudes  nearly  four  feet 
greater  than  the  pavement  of  the  capital.  Still  more  imperiously  do 
the  lakes  to  the  north  dominate  the  city.  San  Cristobal  and  Xaltocan 
are  about  five  feet,  while  Zumpango  is  over  thirteen  feet,  above  it. 

The  project  now  almost  completed  is  a  modification  of  the  scheme 
projected  by  Simon  Mendez  in  the  time  of  the  Spanish  Government, 
and  which  in  1849  was  adopted  by  Captain  Smith  of  the  corps  of 
American  engineers  which  accompanied  General  Scott's  army.  The 
tunnel  was  ultimately  located  under  the  saddle  and  through  the  ravine 
of  Acatlan,  its  mouth  being  near  the  village  of  Tequixquiac.  The 
works  have  been  begun  several  times,  and  then  suspended  without 
effecting  anything  of  importance.  In  1866  the  works  now  nearing 
completion  were  commenced.  A  project  proposed  by  Senor  Don 
Francisco  de  Garay,  a  well-known  engineer  of  the  City  of  Mexico, 
was  pronounced  the  most  feasible.  But  the  revolutionary  struggle 
succeeded,  and  for  many  years  the  work  was  relegated  to  the  back- 
ground. 

In  1879  engineer  Don  Luis  Espinosa,  the  present  director  of  the 
works,  took  charge  of  the  undertaking.  In  the  first  period  mentioned 
the  cutting  of  Tequixquiac  was  excavated,  and  the  greater  part  of  the 
shafts  were  begun ;  but  at  that  point  the  work  was  stopped  by  political 
agitations. 

The  present  gigantic  work  cannot  have  been  considered  to  have 
been  seriously  undertaken,  with  a  view  of  completion  at  any  cost,  until 
the  year  1885,  when  the  City  Council  of  Mexico  submitted  a  project  to 
the  Government  to  which  they  offered  to  contribute  largely  in  the 
event  of  its  being  adopted. 

A  special  commission,  with  ample  authority  to  deal  with  the  funds 
set  aside  for  the  work,  was  appointed  by  President  Porfirio  Diaz. 
The  City  Council  set  aside  the  sum  of  $400,000  per  annum  for  the 
canal  works,  which  sum  was  materially  increased  by  the  Federal  Gov- 
ernment. 

In  1887  the  City  Council  raised  a  loan  in  London  of  £2,400,000  to 
meet  the  cost  of  the  work  and  guarantee  its  successful  termination. 
The  entire  responsibility  of  the  work  was  now  assumed  by  the  City 
Council,  and  the  Government  gave  authority  for  the  Council  to  make 
and  collect  new  taxes.  Still,  there  was  not  sufficient  money  forthcom- 
ing, so  another  loan  was  raised  in  London  for  .£3,000,000,  a  portion 
of  which  was  held  for  the  work. 


276  Statistical  Motes  on 

The  drainage  works,  when  carried  out,  will  receive  the  surplus 
waters  and  sewage  of  the  City  of  Mexico  and  carry  them  outside  of  the 
valley,  and  will  also  control  the  entire  waters  of  the  valley,  affording  an 
outlet,  whenever  found  necessary,  to  those  which  might  otherwise  over- 
flow fields  and  towns,  rendering  the  soil  stagnant  and  marshy.  The 
work  consists  of  three  parts — ist,  the  tunnel;  2d,  a  canal  starting 
from  the  gates  of  San  Lazaro,  and  having  a  length  of  67^  kilometres,  or 
43  miles,  its  line  following  on  the  eastern  side  of  the  Guadalupe  range 
of  hills  and  between  that  range  and  Lake  Texcoco,  changing  its  direc- 
tion after  arriving  at  the  20th  kilometre  to  a  northeasterly  one,  so  as  to 
diagonally  cross  Lake  San  Cristobal,  a  part  of  Lake  Xaltocan,  and  a 
part  of  Lake  Zumpango,  and  arriving  finally  at  the  mouth  of  the 
tunnel  near  the  town  of  Zumpango;  and  3d,  the  sewage  of  the  City  of 
Mexico. 

The  tunnel. — The  contract  for  completing  the  tunnel  was  let  to 
Messrs.  Read  &  Campbell,  of  Mexico,  but  for  some  reason  they  were 
unable  to  finish  the  work.  It  was  therefore  continued  and  satisfactorily 
completed  by  the  City  Council  for  a  sum  considerably  less  than  the 
price  contracted  with  Messrs.  Read  &  Campbell  under  their  superin- 
tendence as  hereafter  stated. 

The  tunnel  has  a  length  of  10,021.79  metres,  or  32,869  feet  (6£ 
miles),  with  a  curved  section  formed  by  four  curves  respectively  of  the 
following  dimensions:  The  upper  part  has  a  span  of  4.185  metres,  or 
13  feet  9  inches,  and  a  rise  of  1.570  metres,  or  5  feet  i-J  inches;  the 
two  lateral  arches  have  a  chord  each  of  2.36  metres,  or  7  feet  9  inches, 
a  radius  with  a  chord  of  2.429  metres,  or  8  feet,  and  a  rise  of  0.521 
metre,  or  i  foot  8£  inches;  the  elevation  is  4.286  metres,  or  14  feet, 
and  the  greatest  width  is  the  span  of  the  upper  arch.  The  accom- 
panying drawings  show  this  section.  The  tunnel  is  lined  with  brick, 
having  a  thickness  in  the  upper  part  of  0.45  metre,  or  i  foot  6  inches, 
and  in  the  lower  part  over  which  the  water  runs,  of  0.04  metre,  or  i 
foot  4  inches  in  the  side  arches,  and  of  0.30  metre,  or  i  foot  in  the 
radius,  this  latter  lining  being  of  artificial  stone  made  of  sand  and 
Portland  cement.  The  elevation  of  the  invert  at  the  beginning  of 
the  tunnel  is  9.20  metres,  or  30  feet  i£  inches  below  datum;  at  the 
end  of  the  tunnel,  17.53  metres,  or  57  feet  6  inches  below  datum. 
The  gradient  is  0.00069  f°r  tne  ^TS^-  2170.74  metres,  or  i  in  1449  for 
7120  feet;  0.00072  for  the  following  5831  metres,  or  i  in  1389  for 
19,125  feet  6  inches;  o.ooi  for  5100  metres,  or  i  in  1389  for  16,728 
feet;  and  0.00135,  i  in  740,  for  the  rest  of  the  tunnel;  these  changes 
being  in  accordance  with  changes  of  details  made  from  those  of  the 
original  project,  in  some  cases  modifying  the  section  and  in  other  cases 
the  lining.  Twenty-five  shafts,  each  2  by  3  metres,  or  16  feet  6f  inches 
by  9  feet  10  inches,  were  opened  at  a  distance  of  400  metres,  or  1312 


11! 


00") 

\  I 

s ' 

<8  i 

>  i 


O 
O 

a 


LU 


£fe 

O    -r* 


-J  L>  ^    ^ 

^5! 

^^  o- 

^"^  I      .         i        °0 


fel 


8  1 

II 


ZTbe  Dalles  of  flDesfco's  Drainage.  277 

feet  from  each  other.  These  served  to  ventilate  the  tunnel  and  to 
facilitate  the  work.  The  deepest  of  these  shafts,  situated  on  the  saddle 
of  Acatlan,  has  a  depth  of  92  metres,  or  301  feet  9  inches;  the  shallow- 
est is  21  metres,  or  68  feet  10  inches. 

To  give  an  idea  of  the  labor  involved  beyond  the  mere  tunneling, 
it  is  as  well  to  mention  that  the  quantity  of  materials  required  per  lineal 
yard  of  tunnel  was  1800  bricks,  94  cement  blocks,  3  cubic  yards  of 
mortar,  and  70  cubic  feet  of  volcanic  stone. 

Maximum  discharge  through  the  tunnel  =  18  cubic  metres,  635! 
cubic  feet. 

When  the  drainage  board  took  charge  of  the  work,  it  was  executed 
by  day  labor  both  in  the  canal  and  in  the  tunnel,  the  latter  having  the 
larger  amounts  expended  on  it.  But,  shortly  afterwards,  the  contract 
for  the  tunnel  was  let  to  Messrs.  Read  &  Campbell,  of  London,  who, 
after  having  invested  a  considerable  sum  in  the  work,  found  themselves 
under  the  necessity  of  cancelling  their  contract  at  the  beginning  of  the 
year  1892.  These  gentlemen  continued  to  handle  the  work,  but  as 
managers,  and  under  the  direction  of  the  board. 

The  canal. — In  December,  1889,  the  Department  of  Public  Works 
contracted  with  the  Bucyrus  Company  of  the  United  States,  of  which 
Colonel  Ellis  was  the  president,  for  the  construction  of  the  canal. 

This  company  started  with  two  spoon  dredgers  capable  of  raising 
a  maximum  of  1000  cubic  metres,  1308  cubic  yards,  a  day.  They 
commenced  operations  at  the  twenty-second  kilometre.  In  the  opin- 
ion of  the  board  of  commissioners,  the  Bucyrus  Company  was  not  pro- 
ceeding with  the  work  at  a  suitable  rate  of  speed,  for  at  1000  cubic 
metres,  1308  cubic  yards,  per  day,  the  work  of  dredging  alone,  as  there 
were  some  16,000,000  of  cubic  metres,  20,928,000  cubic  yards,  of  ex- 
cavation to  do,  would  take  about  forty-three  years  ;  their  contract  was 
therefore  cancelled. 

In  May,  1894,  the  Department  of  Public  Works  of  Mexico  con- 
tracted with  Messrs.  S.  Pearson  &  Son  of  London  for  the  completion 
of  the  canal,  modifying  former  contracts  of  December  25,  1889,  March 
30,  1891,  and  April  18,  1893,  under  the  following  bases:  the  un- 
finished excavation  in  the  first  nine  kilometres,  and  that  between  kilo- 
metre 47  and  the  entrance  of  the  tunnel  of  Tequixquiac,  are  to  be 
continued  by  the  Board  of  Drainage  Directors,  who  must  have  the  latter 
portion  completed  to  10  metres  below  the  surface  of  the  soil  by  Decem- 
ber 31,  1894,  and  to  the  required  depth  of  the  canal  by  May  31,  1895, 
in  order  that  the  water  in  the  canal  may  settle  to  that  level  and  permit 
the  contractors  to  slope  the  walls  as  required  by  the  contract.  The 
contractors  are  to  complete  the  canal  between  kilometres  9  and  47  for 
the  sum  of  $3,506,000.  For  making  the  monthly  estimates  the  canal 
will  be  divided  into  two  sections — kilometres  9  to  22  and  kilometres 


278  Statistical  Iftotes  on  Aegico* 

22  to  47.  In  the  first  section  the  provisional  estimate  will  be  40  cents 
per  cubic  metre;  in  the  second  a  sum  equal  to  the  quotient  obtained 
by  dividing  the  remainder  of  the  money  by  the  number  of  cubic  metres 
to  be  removed.  The  contractors  may  suspend  the  work  of  the  dredgers 
when  they  fall  below  40  cubic  metres  per  hour,  and  can  proceed  with 
the  excavation  in  any  way  they  wish.  The  excavation  had  to  be  com- 
pleted by  May  i,  1896,  except  in  the  parts  where  the  dredgers  cannot 
work.  Then  for  each  day's  delay  the  contractors  must  pay  $500  fine, 
and  after  five  months  the  contract  will  be  rescinded. 

These  contractors  carried  out  the  work  of  the  canal  in  two  different 
ways — by  hand  work  with  centrifugal  pumps  to  draw  off  the  water 
which  filtered  into  the  work,  and  by  means  of  enormously  powerful 
Couloir  dredgers  which  have  a  capacity  for  3000  cubic  metres  of  ex- 
cavation per  day,  and  which  throw  the  excavated  earth  to  a  distance 
of  more  than  200  metres  from  the  centre  of  the  canal.  They  had  five 
of  these  dredgers  at  work,  and  by  means  of  them  excavated  to  a  depth 
of  20  metres  or  65  feet,  raising  the  earth  to  an  elevation  of  more  than 
1 6  metres,  52^  feet,  so  as  to  empty  it  into  the  shoots,  along  which  it  was 
carried  by  a  stream  of  water  that  delivered  it  at  a  considerable  dis- 
tance from  the  dredger.  The  dredgers  have  now  done  their  work,  and 
they  have  been  taken  to  pieces,  packed  and  transferred  to  the  harbor 
works  at  Veracruz.  The  portion  of  the  canal  contracted  for  was 
completed  to  the  satisfaction  of  all  concerned  in  six  years. 

The  level  of  the  bottom  of  the  canal  above  the  datum  line  adopted 
is  2.25  metres,  or  7  feet  4  inches,  and  the  mouth  of  the  tunnel  is  9.20 
metres,  or  30  feet  J  inch  below  the  same  datum,  supposed  to  pass  10 
metres,  or  33.80  feet  below  the  bottom  of  the  Aztec  calendar  stone,  since 
transferred  to  the  National  Museum.  The  level  of  the  ground  at  the 
beginning  of  the  canal  is  8.94  metres,  or  29  feet  4  inches,  and  at  the 
end  15.86  metres,  or  52  feet  above  datum.  The  uniform  slope  of  the 
canal  is  at  the  rate  of  0.187  Per  kilometre. 

The  canal  has  a  depth,  at  its  commencement,  of  5.50  metres,  or  18 
feet,  which  in  the  last  few  kilometres  is  increased  to  20.50  metres,  or  67 
feet  3  inches.  The  side  slopes  were  projected  with  a  batter  of  45  de- 
grees, and  the  width  of  the  bottom  is  5.50  metres,  or  18  feet  for  the  first 
20  kilometres,  or  I2-J  miles,  and  6.50  metres  or  21  feet  2  inches  in  the  rest 
of  the  canal.  The  first  20  kilometres,  or  12%  miles, may  be  considered 
as  a  prolongation  of  the  net  of  sewers  in  the  city,  and  will  receive  only 
the  water  that  passes  through  them.  The  flow  is  calculated  for  an 
average  of  5  cubic  metres,  or  176^  cubic  feet,  although,  when  heavy 
rains  require  it,  they  can  receive  a  greater  volume;  the  rest  of  the 
canal  communicates  with  Lake  Texcoco,  and  will  be  utilized  in  con- 
trolling its  waters, — the  lowest  in  the  valley, — which  can  be  made  to 
flow  into  the  canal  from  all  parts.  Hence  the  canal  has  been  built  to 


(Drainage  of  the  Valley  of  Mexico.) 
VERTICAL  SECTION  OF  THE  TUNNEL. 


ZTbe  IDalles  of  /iDejico's  Brainaae.  279 

carry  the  largest  flow  that  can  pass  through  the  tunnel,  or  18  cubic 
metres,  635^  cubic  feet,  per  second.  The  cutting  is  through  a  strictly 
clay  formation,  comprising  occasional  thin  strata  of  sand  and  sandstone. 

For  accommodation  of  railroads,  wagon  roads,  and  water-courses, 
it  was  necessary  to  construct  five  aqueducts — four  of  masonry  and  one 
of  iron — to  carry  rivers,  four  iron  bridges  for  the  passage  of  railroads, 
and  fourteen  bridges  for  vehicular  traffic. 

The  sewage. — The  sewers  of  the  City  of  Mexico  form  a  network 
of  covered  channels,  located  sometimes  in  the  middle  and  sometimes 
on  the  sides  of  the  streets,  these  being  almost  always  gorges,  com- 
municating with  a  system  of  secondary  sewers  that  empty  into  a  collect- 
ing sewer  discharging  into  the  canal  of  San  Lazaro,  which  transports 
the  sewage  to  Lake  Texcoco.  If  the  water  is  high  in  the  lake,  water 
backs  up  into  the  sewers  and  saturates  the  soil  under  the  houses  and 
streets.  As  this  has  been  the  condition  for  several  centuries,  the  state 
of  the  subsoil  under  the  city  can  be  better  imagined  than  described. 
The  death-rate  touches  40  per  1000 — the  highest  in  the  civilized  world. 
Mexico's  elevation  of  over  7000  feet  is  all  that  saves  it  from  a  pesti- 
lence. Malarial  and  gastric  fevers  are  almost  continually  epidemic. 

For  a  century  the  problem  has  been  settling  into  one  of  pure  sanita- 
tion. The  plans  which  the  Government  has  been  working  since  about 
1883,  though  called  plans  for  draining  the  valley,  really  seek  to  get  a  fall 
sufficient  to  dispose  of  the  sewage.  In  fact,  in  the  original  plan,  from 
considerations  of  economy,  care  was  to  be  taken  to  keep  out  of  the 
projected  canal  all  water  both  from  the  surface  of  the  valley  and  from 
the  rivers.  The  Consulado  and  the  Guadalupe  rivers  were  to  be  car- 
ried over  the  new  canal  in  iron  aqueducts.  The  drainage  system  was 
thus  to  be  simply  a  part  of  the  sewage  system  of  the  city. 

The  excavated  materials  have  been  tipped  on  each  side  of  the  canal 
at  their  natural  slopes,  and  a  towpath  near  the  canal  level  provided. 
Sluice  gates  will  direct  the  city  drainage  either  to  the  canal  or  to  Lake 
Texcoco.  A  sluice  gate  at  the  junction  of  the  smaller  with  the  larger 
part  of  the  canal  will  control  the  flow  of  Lake  Texcoco,  and  another 
sluice  gate  will  be  placed  at  the  entrance  of  the  tunnel. 

Completion  of  the  work. — As  this  paper  goes  to  press,  the  drainage 
works  of  the  Valley  of  Mexico  are  practically  finished,  as  the  waters  of 
the  valley  have  been  for  several  years  passing  through  the  canal  and 
the  tunnel  to  their  outlet  in  the  river  which  takes  them  to  the  Gulf  of 
Mexico,  and  the  company  with  whom  the  canal  was  contracted  is  now 
giving  the  finishing  touches  to  the  sides  and  bottom  of  the  canal  and 
will  deliver  it  to  the  Government  Board  of  the  Drainage  Directors  in 
January,  1898.  It  was  agreed  with  the  contractors  that  the  portion  of 
the  canal  between  the  City  of  Mexico  and  the  20th  kilometre,  which  is 
comparatively  easy,  because  the  canal  is  not  deep  there,  and  the  ex- 


280  Statistical  Iftotes  on 

cavations  do  not  exceed  200,000  cubic  metres,  will  be  made  directly  by 
the  Board  as  soon  as  the  other  portion  of  the  canal  has  been  finished; 
this  last  section  of  the  work  is  expected  to  be  finished  in  June,  1898, 
when  the  waters  of  the  City  of  Mexico  will  leave  the  valley  by  the 
drainage  works  here  mentioned. 

The  canal  and  six-mile  tunnel  through  the  mountain  range  have 
a  total  length  approaching  fifty  miles.  The  present  works  will  take 
rank  with  the  great  achievements  of  modern  times,  just  as  the  immense 
"  cut  "  of  Nochistongo,  their  unsuccessful  predecessor,  was  the  leader 
among  ancient  earthworks  in  all  the  world.  The  completed  system  will 
have  cost  $20,000,000. 

I  have  dwelt  on  these  works  at  some  length,  because  their  import- 
ance to  the  City  of  Mexico  can  hardly  be  overestimated.  Instead  of 
being  one  of  the  healthiest  cities  in  the  world,  as  it  should  be  with  its 
magnificent  climate  and  situation,  Mexico,  unfortunately,  has  a  terribly 
heavy  death-rate,  due  principally  to  want  of  drainage  and  generally 
bad  sanitary  condition.  When  the  existing  danger  of  floods  is  removed, 
and  the  sanitary  evils  are  remedied  by  a  proper  system  of  drainage, 
the  increased  security  that  will  be  enjoyed  by  life  and  property  will 
certainly  have  its  effect  on  the  prosperity  of  the  city.  Property  will 
rise  in  value,  the  population  will  grow  with  rapidity,  not  to  mention 
the  tide  of  tourists  that  will  set  in  from  the  United  States,  and  this  will 
mean  larger  revenues  for  the  municipality. 

I  could  not  well  finish  this  paper  without  paying  General  Diaz, 
President  of  Mexico,  a  just  tribute  for  the  great  interest  he  has  taken 
in  having  this  gigantic  work  brought  to  a  close  during  his  administra- 
tion. To  his  exertions  in  this  regard,  and  to  his  commanding  position 
in  Mexico,  more  than  to  anything  else,  this  happy  result,  now  in 
sight,  is  due.  So  after  a  weary  search  of  centuries  for  relief,  the 
beautiful  Valley  of  Mexico  will  gain  its  deliverance  not  only  from  the 
engulfing  floods,  but  from  the  sanitary  evils  which  have  long  resulted 
from  defective  drainage. 


COFFEE  CULTURE  ON  THE 
SOUTHERN  COAST  OF  CHIAPAS, 


281 


COFFEE  CULTURE  ON  THE  SOUTHERN 
COAST  OF  CHIAPAS. 

i. 

INTRODUCTION. 

The  desire  of  contributing,  in  however  slight  a  degree,  to  the  de- 
velopment of  the  cultivation  of  coffee  in  the  State  of  Chiapas,  which, 
when  undertaken  on  a  large  scale,  will  become  the  chief  source  of 
wealth  of  a  considerable  part  of  its  territory,  induces  me  now  to  take 
up  my  pen  for  the  purpose  of  setting  down  the  results  of  my  own  ob- 
servations and  of  those  of  several  experienced  planters  of  Guatemala, 
giving  them  the  form  of  practical  instructions,  which  may  also  be  of 
use  to  the  people  of  the  other  States  of  the  Mexican  Confederation 
who  may  be  favorably  situated  for  this  industry  and  who  may  desire 
to  avail  themselves  of  the  advantages  which  it  offers.  I  will  note  down, 
then,  what  I  consider  to  be  the  fundamental  principles  of  coffee  cul- 
ture; and  I  think  I  may  say  with  certainty  that  the  rules  here  given 
will  produce  good  results  in  a  soil  and  climate  similar  to  those  of 
Chiapas,  if  they  be  faithfully  and  judiciously  followed.  To  give  these 
rules  is  the  purpose  of  the  present  work. 

It  is  also  my  purpose  to  show  how  easy  the  cultivation  of  coffee  is, 
and  how  large  are  the  profits  it  yields,  in  order  to  encourage  my 
countrymen  to  devote  themselves  to  so  profitable  an  industry.  Those 
whose  pecuniary  resources  will  not  allow  them  to  undertake  it  on  a 
large  scale  may  do  so  on  a  small  one,  certain  of  good  results,  and  of 
being  able,  with  the  profits  which  a  small  plantation  will  yield  to  form 
a  larger  one  in  the  course  of  a  few  years,  which  will  assure  their  future. 

In  order  to  appreciate  the  advantages  to  be  derived  by  the  Chiapas 
coast  from  coffee  cultivation,  it  will  be  sufficient  to  compare  the  Guate- 
mala of  twenty  years  ago  with  the  Guatemala  of  to-day.  Lands  entirely 
uninhabited  have  suddenly  become  transformed  into  well-cultivated 
fields ;  towns  and  cities  that  had  fallen  into  decay  have  sprung  into  pros- 

283 


284  Coffee  Culture  on  tbe  Soutbern  Coast  ot  Cbiapas* 

parity  as  if  by  magic,  and  are  steadily  increasing  in  wealth ;  new  roads  to 
facilitate  transportation  are  being  constantly  constructed ;  commercial 
transactions  have  greatly  multiplied  ;  the  revenues  are  increasing; 
public  credit  is  being  re-established;  and  what,  not  long  ago  was  a  de- 
cadent, impoverished,  and  almost  ruined  country  has  become,  thanks 
to  the  beneficent  results  of  the  cultivation  of  coffee,  a  rich  and  pros- 
perous State.  I  see  no  reason  why  Chiapas,  if  it  follows  the  same 
course,  should  not  attain  the  same  results. 

The  great  agricultural  progress  made  by  Guatemala  will  be  better 
understood  if  we  consider  how  valuable  land  has  become  there.  While 
the  best  land  situated  in  the  Valley  of  Mexico,  in  the  vicinity  of  the 
capital,  is  estimated  at  an  average  value  of  $100,000  the  square  league, 
land  situated  in  the  vicinity  of  the  city  of  Guatemala,  for  the  reason 
that  it  is  suitable  for  coffee,  sells  at  $500  per  lot  of  10,000  square  varas, 
at  which  rate  the  Mexican  square  league  would  be  worth  the  fabulous 
sum  of  $1,250,000. 

On  the  various  occasions  on  which  I  have  visited  Guatemala  I  have 
made  a  special  study  of  coffee  culture,  which  is  assuming  such  large 
proportions  in  the  neighboring  Republic.  The  greater  number  of  the 
rules  set  down  in  this  work,  therefore,  are  based  upon  experience  ac- 
quired in  Guatemala,  for,  unfortunately,  the  cultivation  of  coffee  in 
Soconusco  has  not  yet  attained  the  necessary  proportions  to  base  on  it 
a  body  of  rules.  This  will  explain  the  frequent  references  which  I 
shall  make  to  Guatemala  in  the  course  of  this  work. 

The  best  coffee-growing  districts  of  Guatemala  are  those  called 
there  "  Costa  Grande  "  and  "  Costa  Cuca,"  which  are  the  prolongation 
of  the  chain  of  mountains  which  crosses  the  southern  part  of  the  State 
of  Chiapas,  and  runs  here,  as  in  the  neighboring  Republic,  very  near 
the  Pacific,  and  almost  parallel  with  it.  The  land  on  that  coast,  there- 
fore, is  not  inferior  to  the  best  in  Guatemala ;  if  there  is  any  difference 
between  them,  it  is  that  the  Soconusco  land  is  better  watered. 

I  shall  not  give  here  the  botanic  classification  of  the  coffee  tree,  a 
description  of  the  plant,  the  chemical  analysis  of  its  fruit,  nor  an  ac- 
count of  its  discovery  and  use,  for  although  all  this  is  of  undoubted 
interest,  it  would  draw  me  aside  from  my  main  object,  which  is  to  lay 
down  practical  rules  for  the  cultivation  of  coffee.  I  think  it  necessary, 
however,  to  say  that  science  has  done  little  hitherto,  at  least  so  far  as 
I  know,  in  favor  of  this  industry.  I  have  not  been  able  to  find  any 
information  regarding  the  chemical  analysis  of  the  soils  suitable  for  the 
cultivation  of  coffee^  nor  of  other  scientific  operations  whose  results 
would  afford  a  sure  basis  for  methods  for  its  better  cultivation.  It  is 
plain  that  if  the  component  substances  of  the  soil  which  nourishes  the 
coffee  tree  and  those  which  form  its  fruit  were  known  with  certainty,  it 
might  be  determined  with  accuracy  what  kind  of  soil  and  what  fertil- 


ffuture  ot  Coffee  Culture  in  flDesico.  285 

izers  are  best  adapted  to  it;  and  by  using  these  not  only  might  the 
plant  be  made  to  live  longer  but  also  to  yield  larger  crops.  Chemistry 
and  geology  have  done  much  for  certain  plants ;  the  cultivation  of  the 
cereals  has  attained  to  almost  mathematical  precision  in  Europe. 
Thanks  to  the  advancement  made  in  these  sciences,  the  substances 
which  each  crop  draws  from  the  soil  may  now  be  determined  with  ex- 
actness, and,  as  a  consequence,  the  substances  which  should  be  used 
as  fertilizers,  in  order  to  supply  the  losses  caused  by  the  crops.  When 
such  data  respecting  coffee  can  be  obtained,  great  advancement  will 
have  been  made  in  its  cultivation,  which  will  not  until  then  cease  to  be 
empirical. 

II. 
FUTURE  OF  COFFEE  CULTURE  IN  MEXICO. 

The  use  of  coffee  is  becoming  general  everywhere.  Whether  it  is 
that  certain  beverages  at  certain  periods  become  fashionable,  and  that 
coffee  is  at  the  present  time  one  of  these,  or  that  it  really  has  properties 
which  make  it  beneficial  to  the  human  constitution,  certain  it  is  that 
the  sphere  of  its  consumption  is  widening  notably.  Mexico  is  not 
exempt  from  this  tendency;  a  few  years  ago  coffee  was  hardly  used 
in  the  Republic,  while  now  it  begins  to  compete  with  cocoa,  and  even 
with  the  national  drink  made  of  Indian  corn. 

Hardly  five  years  ago  coffee  was  sold  in  Soconusco  at  five  dollars 
per  quintal ;  low  as  this  price  was  it  yielded  a  profit,  but  did  not  make 
it  worth  while  to  extend  its  cultivation.  Many  still  fear  that  the  prices 
of  the  last  two  years  were  exceptional,  that  they  will  before  long  sink 
to  their  former  level,  and  that  coffee  on  the  plantation  will  not  sell  for 
more  than  eight  dollars  per  quintal.  The  crop  of  1872  sold  at  from 
ten  to  twelve  dollars  per  quintal  on  the  plantation;  and  that  of  1873  at 
eighteen  dollars  per  quintal.  Although  it  is  true  that  this  is  an  excep- 
tional price,  I  think  it  probable  that  coffee  will  not  fall  lower  than  ten 
dollars  on  the  plantation,  which  will  still  leave  a  good  profit,  as  will  be 
shown  farther  on. 

Mexico  is,  besides,  destined,  from  its  proximity  to  the  United 
States,  to  become  the  chief  source  of  supply  for  that  country,  which  is 
the  country  that  consumes  the  largest  quantity  of  coffee  in  proportion 
to  the  number  of  its  inhabitants.  Transportation  will  be  easier  when 
we  are  connected  by  rail  with  the  United  States,  for  the  Central  States 
of  the  Union  would  find  it  more  to  their  advantage  to  import  coffee 
from  Mexico  overland  than  by  way  of  New  York  or  San  Francisco. 
That  market  would  of  itself  suffice  to  consume  all  the  crops  that  the 
country  could  raise  for  several  years  to  come. 


286   Coffee  Culture  on  tbe  Soutbern  Coast  of  Cbiapas. 

These  considerations,  which  I  touch  upon  briefly,  lead  me  to  believe 
that  far  from  being  attended  by  any  risk,  coffee-growing  is,  and  will 
continue  to  be  for  some  time  to  come,  one  of  the  most  lucrative 
branches  of  agriculture  to  which  the  Mexican  farmer  could  apply  his 
labor  and  intelligence. 

III. 

ADVANTAGES  AND  DISADVANTAGES  OF  SOCONUSCO  FOR 
COFFEE-GROWING. 

Soconusco  offers  special  advantages  for  the  cultivation  of  coffee. 
It  also  has  some  disadvantages,  which,  although  they  may  be  regarded 
as  transitory  and  easily  remedied,  it  will  be  proper  to  mention  here. 

Each  of  these  points,  therefore,  will  now  be  considered  separately. 

I.     THE  ADVANTAGES  WHICH  SOCONUSCO  OFFERS  FOR  THE  CULTIVATION 

OF   COFFEE. 

Soconusco  unites  many  conditions  that  render  it  suitable  for  the 
cultivation  of  coffee.  The  principal  of  these  are  the  following: 

A. — Advantages  of  the  soil  and  climate  of  Soconusco. 

B. — Cheapness  of  labor. 

C. — Proximity  of  good  coffee  land  to  the  sea. 

D. — Facility  with  which  the  expenses  of  growing  coffee  may  be  de- 
frayed by  raising  other  crops  at  the  same  time  on  the  same  ground. 

Each  of  these  advantages  will  be  considered  separately. 

A. — Advantages  of  the  Soil  and  Climate  of  Soconusco. — The  soil  of 
Soconusco  seems  especially  adapted  for  coffee-growing.  In  speaking 
further  on  of  the  conditions  which  make  a  locality  suitable  for  coffee  it 
will  be  seen  that  all  of  them  are  favorably  combined  in  Soconusco. 
The  character  of  the  soil,  the  nature  of  the  climate,  a  moist  atmos- 
phere, abundant  rains,  numerous  streams  and  waterfalls,  shelter  from 
the  prevailing  winds,  and  all  the  other  conditions  which  experience  has 
shown  to  be  favorable  to  coffee,  are  united  in  Soconusco. 

The  configuration  of  the  land  renders  it  very  favorable  to  coffee. 
In  an  area  of  about  fourteen  leagues  the  required  altitude  (from  one 
to  five  thousand  feet  above  the  level  of  the  sea),  with  the  correspond- 
ing temperature,  is  to  be  found.  In  the  course  of  this  paper  the 
peculiar  advantages  which  result  from  the  favorable  situation  of  the 
land  will  be  pointed  out. 

Comparing  the  system  of  cultivating  coffee  in  Soconusco  with  that 
followed  in  other  parts  of  the  Republic  where  highly  esteemed  coffee  is 
produced,  it  will  be  seen  that  Soconusco  has  many  advantages  over  these. 
While  in  Colima  and  Jalisco  the  coffee  tree  requires  irrigation  in  order 
to  grow  and  thrive,  here  it  grows  and  flourishes  without  it.  The  rains, 
which  continue  in  Soconusco  for  six  months  in  the  year,  constitute 


of  Soconusco  for  Goffee*<3rowing,     287 

a  natural  irrigation,  and  the  soil  retains  during  the  dry  season  sufficient 
moisture  to  keep  the  plant  from  withering;  the  numerous  rivers, 
streams,  and  waterfalls  of  the  Cordillera  contribute  also  to  keep  the 
ground  moist,  as  do  also  the  heavy  dews,  caused  probably  by  the 
proximity  of  the  sea.  Shade  trees,  indispensable  in  the  former  locali- 
ties, and  which  draw  so  much  of  its  nutritive  elements  from  the  earth, 
to  the  detriment  of  the  coffee-tree,  are  not  necessary  here.  In  other 
localities  the  soil  must  be  manured,  while  in  Soconusco  manure  is  un- 
necessary. It  is  true  that  fertilizers  contribute  to  make  the  crop  more 
abundant  and  to  prolong  the  life  of  the  tree;  but  here  no  manure  is 
used,  nor  is  the  necessity  for  it  felt;  and  without  its  use  the  coffee  plan- 
tations last  a  longer  time  and  yield  better  crops  than  in  other  localities 
where  manure  is  used. 

The  best  proof  of  the  advantages  offered  by  Soconusco  for  the  cul- 
tivation of  coffee,  is  the  cheapness  with  which  it  is  raised.  While  in 
Colima  coffee  cannot  be  sold  with  profit  to  the  planter  at  less  than 
from  thirty  to  thirty-five  dollars  per  quintal,  in  Soconusco  it  will  yield 
a  profit  at  even  eight  dollars.  This  fact  in  itself  is  the  plainest  proof 
that  could  be  adduced  of  the  superior  advantages  of  this  locality,  as 
compared  with  Colima,  for  the  cultivation  of  coffee.  In  Colima, 
coffee  is  cultivated  on  a  small  scale  only;  the  coffee  crop  up  to  the 
year  1871,  notwithstanding  the  high  price  it  brought,  did  not  exceed 
two  hundred  quintals. 

Farther  on  it  will  be  seen  wherein  the  excellence  of  the  Colima 
coffee  consists,  and  how  coffee  of  approximately  the  same  quality 
might  be  raised  in  Soconusco. 

B.  Cheapness  of  Labor  in  Soconusco. — Almost  everywhere  on  the 
-coast  where  there  is  a  scarcity  of  hands — and  this  is  the  case  along 
almost  the  whole  of  our  coast  line,  where  the  population  is  so  sparse — 
labor  is  much  dearer  than  in  the  interior.  Along  the  Southern  coast 
of  the  State  of  Veracruz,  for  instance,  the  laborer  is  paid  not  less  than 
fifty  cents  a  day,  and  in  many  other  localities  he  is  paid  even  more. 
Soconusco  may  be  considered,  however,  as  an  exception  to  this  rule,  for 
wages  are  here  as  low  as  in  the  interior  of  the  Republic. 

The  price  of  labor  in  Soconusco  is  now  regulated  by  the  price  paid  in 
Guatemala.  On  coffee  plantations  it  ranges  from  a  real  and  a  half  to 
two  reals  and  a  half  per  day ;  the  average  wages  being  two  reals  a  day, 
a  sum  which  seems  very  moderate.  In  Costa  Rica  wages  are  now  as 
high  as  a  dollar  a  day. 

The  scarcity  of  labor  in  Soconusco  is,  however,  the  principal  diffi- 
culty with  which  every  agricultural  enterprise  has  to  contend,  as  will 
be  seen  farther  on. 

C.  Proximity  of  good  Coffee  Land  to  the  Sea. — The  proximity  to  the 
sea,  in  Soconusco,  of  the  land  suitable  for  coffee  cultivation  is  a  very 


288   Coffee  Culture  on  tbe  Soutbern  Coast  of  Cbiapas. 

advantageous  circumstance,  not  only  because  of  the  exposure  of  the 
land  to  the  sea  air,  which  contributes  greatly  to  the  excellence  of  the 
coffee  and  the  abundance  of  the  crop,  but  also  because  this  proximity 
to  the  sea  cheapens  considerably  the  freight  by  land. 

It  may  be  considered  that  of  the  coffee  plantations  at  present  in 
this  District,  those  farthest  from  the  port  are  at  a  distance  from  it  of 
twenty  leagues,  by  the  roads  now  in  use,  a  distance  which  might  be 
considerably  shortened  by  building  new  roads. 

D.  Facility  with  which  the  Expenses  of  Coffee-Growing  may  be  De- 
frayed by  Raising  other  Crops  at  the  same  Time  on  the  same  Land. — One  of 
the  principal  drawbacks  to  coffee-raising  is  that  a  plantation  does  not 
begin  to  yield  until  from  three  to  five  years  after  planting,  according  as 
it  has  been  planted  from  seeds  or  from  the  nursery,  and  few  persons  can 
afford  to  make  the  outlay  required  during  that  time  without  obtaining 
meanwhile  any  return  from  the  money  invested. 

Soconusco  offers  in  this  respect,  also,  advantages  which  are  hardly 
to  be  met  with  elsewhere.  The  soil  best  adapted  for  coffee  is  also  that 
which  is  best  adapted  for  sugar-cane.  In  the  cold,  high  lands  adjacent 
to  this  District,  which  do  not  produce  sugar-cane,  there  is  a  con- 
siderable population  of  Guatemalan  Indians  who  are  obliged  to  buy 
there  the  sugar  they  require,  whether  for  food  or  to  make  brandy,  which 
is  largely  consumed  in  that  Republic.  For  this  reason,  there  is  gener- 
ally a  great  demand  in  Soconusco  for  sugar,  which  consequently  brings 
a  good  price.  The  buyers  come  down  for  the  sugar  to  the  ranches  in 
which  it  is  made,  so  that  it  is  not  even  necessary  to  carry  it  to  market. 

As  the  sugar-cane  requires  much  less  time  to  come  to  maturity  than 
the  coffee  plant,  and  its  cultivation,  by  reason  of  the  high  price  which 
sugar  brings  here  now,  and  is  likely  to  continue  to  bring,  yields  good 
profit,  it  is  not  only  possible,  but  easy  to  derive  from  it  the  funds  nec- 
essary to  start  a  coffee  plantation. 

Those  who  may  not  have  the  necessary  means  to  begin  with  coffee 
might  begin  by  planting  sugar-cane.  This  arrives  at  maturity  at  from 
eight  to  eighteen  months,  according  to  the  altitude  and  the  temperature 
of  the  locality  in  which  it  is  planted.  The  cost  of  cultivation  is  very 
little,  for  it  may  be  estimated  that  if  the  seed  is  near  the  plantation 
the  cuerda  (twenty-five  yards  square)  will  not  cost  more  than  $2.50,  or 
$3.50  if  the  seed  is  at  a  distance.  A  plantation  of  fifty  cuerdas,  for 
instance,  might  be  formed  with  from  $125  to  $175,  including  all  ex- 
penses until  the  cane  is  ready  to  cut.  A  small  iron  sugar-mill,  moved 
by  oxen,  with  a  boiler  or  evaporator,  may  be  bought  for  $500  or  $600. 
At  a  cost,  therefore,  of  from  $700  to  $800,  fifty  cuerdas  of  sugar-cane 
may  be  planted  and  ground,  the  net  profits  of  which  may  be  estimated, 
at  a  minimum,  at  the  present  prices  of  sugar,  at  $20  a  cuerda,  which  gives- 
a  gross  profit  of  $1000.  The  total  cost  was  estimated  at  $750; 


H>isafc\>anta0es  ot  Goffee-IRaisina  in  Soconusco,    289 

there  will  remain,  consequently,  a  net  surplus  of  $250  the  first  year, 
which  may  be  employed  in  starting  the  coffee  plantation.  After  the 
first  year  the  yearly  profit  will  be  $1000,  or  even  more,  if  the  price  of 
sugar  should  rise,  or  if  the  cane-field  is  enlarged.  If,  instead  of  buying 
an  iron  mill  with  an  evaporator,  the  planter  begins  with  a  wooden  mill 
and  an  iron  boiler,  the  expenses  of  the  first  year  will  not  exceed  $400. 

With  the  sum  of  $1000  a  year  to  employ  in  the  cultivation  of  coffee 
it  would  be  an  easy  matter  to  have,  within  a  few  years,  a  good  coffee 
plantation  which  would  yield  the  profits  to  be  shown  later. 

2.       DISADVANTAGES   OF   COFFEE-RAISING    IN   SOCONUSCO. 

Now  that  we  have  pointed  out  the  natural  and  accidental  advantages 
which  Soconusco  offers  for  the  cultivation  of  coffee,  it  will  be  necessary 
to  point  out  also  the  obstacles  which  are  here  encountered  in  every  agri- 
cultural enterprise,  and  especially  in  the  cultivation  of  coffee.  The  prin- 
cipal of  these  obstacles  is  scarcity  of  hands,  as  will  now  be  considered. 

In  the  State  of  Chiapas,  and  more  particularly  in  Soconusco, 
there  is  a  system  of  labor  which  has  serious  disadvantages  and  which 
occasions  heavy  expenses  and  considerable  losses. 

All  the  laborers  owe  their  employers  various  sums,  which  seldom 
fall  below  $20,  and  which  frequently  exceed  $100.  To  obtain  laborers, 
therefore,  it  is  necessary  first  to  pay  these  debts,  which  may  be  esti- 
mated at  an  average  of  $50  for  each  laborer.  This  expenditure  is  a 
dead  loss,  because  the  money  employed  in  it  brings  no  interest,  and 
because  the  laborer,  instead  of  applying  part  of  his  wages  to  the  paying 
off  of  his  debt,  increases  this  by  fresh  loans,  which  he  asks  daily,  and 
which  represent  a  larger  amount  than  he  earns,  so  that  the  original 
debt,  instead  of  diminishing,  continues  increasing  daily. 

If  at  any  time  the  laborer  is  refused  the  money  he  asks  because  his 
debt  is  already  very  large,  he  considers  this  as  sufficient  cause  for  run- 
ning away.  If  he  is  given  what  he  asks,  his  debt  soon  amounts  to  a 
large  sum,  and  the  laborer,  thinking  that  it  will  now  be  difficult  for 
him  to  pay  it  off,  settles  it  by  running  away.  Without  either  of  these 
reasons  and  on  any  frivolous  pretext,  he  will  escape,  also,  favored  by  the 
proximity  of  the  frontier  of  Guatemala,  where  he  cannot  be  pursued, 
and  where,  on  the  contrary,  he  is  received  with  open  arms,  because 
the  scarcity  of  hands  is  even  greater  there  than  in  Soconusco.  Even 
without  leaving  Mexican  territory  the  laborer  can  find  employment 
where  it  will  not  be  easy  to  discover  him.  It  may  be  said  that  there  is 
hardly  a  workman  who  lets  a  year  pass  without  running  away.  This 
custom  also  gives  rise  to  many  abuses  on  the  part  of  the  employers 
toward  the  laborers. 

With  this  labor  system  and  depending  only  on  the  people  of  the 
place,  it  would  not  be  possible  to  undertake  planting  on  any  consider- 


290   Coffee  Culture  on  tbe  Soutbetn  Coast  of  Cbiapas. 

able  scale  without  having  inexhaustible  resources  with  which  to  pay  the 
•debts  of  laborers,  who  would  shortly  afterward  run  away;  then  to  pay 
the  debts  of  new  hands,  who  before  very  long  would  do  the  same ;  and 
so  on  indefinitely.  Fortunately,  the  Indians  of  the  cold  region  of 
Guatemala,  contiguous  to  this  District,  where  poor  people  are  nu- 
merous, have  no  reluctance  to  coming  down  to  the  temperate  lands, 
which  are  the  most  suitable  for  coffee,  and  with  them  alone  it  would  be 
possible  to  plant  coffee  plantations  of  considerable  extent  in  Socon- 
usco.  Later  on  it  will  perhaps  be  easy  to  bring  laborers  from  other 
parts  of  the  Republic ;  but  this  will  probably  not  be  the  case  until  some 
plantations  have  been  already  established;  and  meanwhile  it  will  be 
necessary  to  depend  on  the  laborers  of  Guatemala. 

Nor  is  the  work  done  by  laborers  from  the  cold  lands  of  Guatemala 
exempt  from  expense  and  loss.  To  induce  the  laborers  to  leave  their 
villages  it  is  necessary  to  advance  them  for  expenses  a  sum  of  money, 
generally  five  dollars  a  head,  which  sum  is  not  always  repaid.  The 
demoralization  has  already  extended  to  the  cold  lands  of  Guatemala, 
and  the  Indians  of  that  region  run  away  also ;  but,  as  the  sums  they 
owe  are  comparatively  small,  the  losses  suffered  from  this  cause  are  in- 
-considerable.  The  evils  of  this  system  of  labor  make  themselves  felt 
in  the  large  plantations  of  Guatemala,  which  have  only  a  limited  num- 
ber of  hands  to  depend  upon  for  the  most  necessary  labors,  whose 
owners  have  large  sums  invested  in  advances  to  laborers,  and  who  re- 
quire to  keep  several  clerks  to  visit  the  villages  to  engage  new  hands 
and  to  search  for  the  runaways. 

As  the  Indians  of  the  cold  region  of  Guatemala  leave  behind  them 
their  families,  their  occupations  and  their  sheep,  they  cannot  remain 
away  from  their  villages  very  long  at  a  time.  As  a  general  thing,  they 
remain  barely  a  month  or  two  in  the  plantations,  and  return  to  their 
homes  to  take  care  of  their  cornfields.  For  this  reason  they  cannot  be 
•considered  permanent  laborers,  which  is  another  serious  drawback. 

The  only  remedy  for  these  evils  would,  in  my  opinion,  be  to  bring 
laborers  from  other  parts  of  the  Republic,  where  the  poor  drag  out  a  mis- 
erable existence,  to  these  fertile  districts.  Coffee  culture  gives  employ- 
ment to  the  wives  and  children  of  the  laborers,  and  the  plantations  are 
situated  in  temperate,  healthy,  and  even  agreeable  climates.  The  diffi- 
culty lies  in  the  first  attempts.  If,  as  is  to  be  expected,  these  give  good 
results,  I  think  it  certain  that,  notwithstanding  the  distance,  many  peo- 
ple would  come  from  the  interior  of  the  Republic  to  settle  in  Soconusco, 
or  at  least  to  work  for  the  season.  If  many  laborers  go,  during  the 
cotton  harvest,  from  the  valleys  of  Oaxaca,  travelling  considerable 
distances  over  rough  roads,  to  the  unhealthy  coast  of  Veracruz  I 
see  no  reason  why  they  should  not  come  to  these  mild  and  salubrious 
climates. 


Con&ftfons  of  Xanfc  Suitable  for  Coffee.          291 

IV. 
CONDITIONS  OF  LAND  SUITABLE  FOR  COFFEE. 

For  the  successful  cultivation  of  coffee,  various  conditions  must 
concur  in  the  land  selected  to  plant  it,  which  will  be  briefly  mentioned 
here,  and  the  principal  of  which  are  the  following: 

1.  Nature  of  the  land  and  its  configuration. 

2.  Temperature. 

3.  Altitude  above  the  level  of  the  sea. 

4.  Exposure  to  the  sun. 

5.  Protection  against  prevailing  winds. 

6.  Humidity. 

7.  Streams. 

8.  Sites  for  building  purposes. 

Each  of  these  conditions  will  be  briefly  considered. 

I.       NATURE   OF    THE   LAND    AND    ITS   CONFIGURATION. 

The  following  points  concerning  the  nature  of  the  land  and  its 
configuration  will  now  be  touched  upon  : 

A. — Land  suitable  for  coffee. 

B. — Layer  of  vegetable  soil. 

C. — Depth  of  the  layer  of  vegetable  soil. 

D. — Land  of  volcanic  formation. 

E. — Virgin  forest  soil  and  cultivated  soil. 

F. — Configuration  of  the  land. 

It  will  be  necessary  to  consider  separately  each  of  these  points  also. 

A.  Land  Suitable  for  Coffee. — As  I  do  not  know  of  any  chemical 
analysis  having  been  made  of  the  soil  most  suitable  for  coffee,  for  the 
purpose  of  determining  with  exactness  its  component  elements,  I  can 
give,  on  this  subject,  only  very  superficial  ideas,  entirely  empirical,  and 
many  of  them  possibly  erroneous,  notwithstanding  that  they  are  based 
on  experience. 

It  has  been  observed  that  land  which  has  a  clayey  sub-soil  is  better 
adapted  for  coffee  than  that  which  has  a  sandy  sub -soil.  Among  the 
clayey  lands  of  Soconusco  some,  and  these  are  the  most  abundant,  are 
of  a  reddish  hue,  more  or  less  vivid,  and  others  of  a  yellowish  color. 
These  last  are  to  be  preferred  for  the  cultivation  of  coffee.  To  this 
class  belong  those  of  "  Union  Juarez,"  in  this  District,  and  those  of 
the  "  Cuca  Coast  "  of  Guatemala. 

The  soil  of  Cordova,  a  district  which  is  also  suitable  for  coffee,  is 
in  general  of  red  clay. 

Some  consider  pebbly  ground  favorable  for  coffee,  as  the  pebbles 
give  the  soil  greater  consistency.  Vertical  thin  strata  of  rock  are  also 
considered  advantageous.  The  ground  of  the  plantations  in  Guatemala 


292   Coffee  Culture  on  tbe  Soutbern  Coast  ot  Cbiapas. 

called  the  plantations  of  St.  Augustine,  situated  on  the  southern  slope 
of  the  volcano  of  Atitlan,  is  somewhat  stony,  and  this  stony  soil  is 
considered  very  good  for  coffee. 

Mr.  William  Sabonadiere,  in  his  Coffee  Planter  in  Ceylon,  published 
in  London  in  1870,  says  that  the  best  ground  for  coffee  in  that  favored 
island — whose  coffee  is  of  so  excellent  a  quality  that  it  is  always  quoted 
in  the  European  markets  higher  than  that  of  Central  America — is  of  a 
dark  chocolate  color,  pebbly,  and  with  a  substratum  of  rock.  He 
considers  a  clayey  soil  unfavorable. 

B.  Layer  of  Vegetable  Soil. — The  land  of  Soconusco  has  generally, 
unless  it  has  been  washed  away  by  the  rains,  a  layer,  more  or  less 
thick,  of  vegetable  soil,  formed  principally  of  decayed  vegetable  matter 
which  has  accumulated  in  the  course  of  time.     This  layer  is  of  a  black 
color  when  moist,  and  ashen  when  dry.     The  thicker  this  layer  the 
better  the  ground  containing  it  for  the  cultivation  of  coffee,  provided 
always  there  be  under  it  a  layer  of  clayey  soil  of  the  depth  specified 
below. 

C.  Depth  of  the  Layer  of  Vegetable  Soil. — As  the  top  root  of  the 
coffee  plant  grows  vertically  and  to  a  considerable  depth,  it  requires  a 
soil  which  it  can  penetrate  without  bending.     If  the  root  meets  with 
any  obstruction,  whether  stone  or  other  substance,  which  it  cannot 
penetrate,  the  plant  sickens,  turns  yellow,  ceases  to  produce  fruit,  and 
finally  dies.     It  is  therefore  indispensable  that  there  should  be  a  layer 
of  earth,  of  from  three  to  six  feet  in  thickness,  which  the  root  of  the 
plant  can  penetrate  without  bending.     It  would  be  therefore  well,  be- 
fore finally  selecting  a  plot  of  ground  to  form  a  plantation,  to  make 
excavations  in  it  at  various  points,   for  the  purpose  of  ascertaining 
whether  or  not  it  possesses  this  requisite. 

If  a  piece  of  land  could  be  found  which,  to  the  conditions  already 
mentioned,  should  unite  that  of  being  traversed  by  vertical  strata  of 
rock,  it  would  be  very  suitable,  as  the  soil  would  be,  so  to  say,  framed 
in  between  these  strata,  would  not  wash  away  with  the  rains,  and 
would  have  greater  consistency ;  but  I  have  not  seen  in  Soconusco  any 
land  that  has  these  conditions. 

D.  Land  of  Volcanic  Formation. — As  observation  shows  that  the 
soil  in  which  coffee  grows  best  is  that  on  the  slopes  of  volcanoes  or  in 
their  immediate  vicinity,  it  may  be  inferred  that  the  best  land  for  coffee 
is  that  of  volcanic  formation.    It  would  be  well,  therefore,  whenever  pos- 
sible, to  select  land  situated  on  the  slopes  of  volcanoes  or  in  their  im- 
mediate vicinity,  if  it  should  also  have  the  other  conditions  enumerated. 

E.  Virgin   Forest  Soil  and  Cultivated  Soil. — There   is  a  notable 
difference,  in  fertile  districts  like  Soconusco,  between  the  soil  of  the 
virgin  forest,  which  has  never  been  cultivated  or  cleared  by  the  hand 
of  man,  or  which,  if  it  was  ever  cultivated,  has  relapsed  into  a  state 


Con&ftions  of  OLatifc  Suitable  for  Coffee.          293 

of  nature,  and  land  recently  cultivated  or  cleared.  For  the  sake  of 
clearness,  it  will  be  expedient  to  consider  separately  these  three  kinds 
of  land.  We  will  therefore  now  consider: 

a. — Virgin  forest  land. 

b. — Land  recently  cleared. 

c. — Land  best  adapted  for  the  cultivation  of  coffee. 

Each  of  these  kinds  of  soil  will  be  considered  with  as  much  brevity 
as  is  consistent  with  clearness. 

a.  Virgin  Forest  Land. — On  virgin  forest  land  there  are  secular 
trees  that  cover  with  their  shade  the  whole  surface  of  the  ground,  for 
which   reason   only  few  plants,   and  those   such   as   do  not  require 
for  their  growth  the  direct  rays  of  the  sun,  can  grow  on  it. 

In  the  virgin  forest,  therefore,  are  seen  colossal,  medium  and  small 
sized  trees,  bushes,  parasites,  vines,  and  other  productions  of  the  vege- 
table kingdom ;  but  the  surface  of  the  ground  is  not  entirely  covered 
with  vegetation.  If  the  seed  of  a  thistle  or  other  noxious  plant  should 
chance  to  fall  on  virgin  forest  land,  it  would  either  not  germinate,  or,  if 
it  germinated,  it  would  not  grow  for  want  of  sunlight. 

b.  Land  Recently  Cleared. — The  aspect  of  land  which  has  at  any 
time  been  cleared  is  very  different  from  that  just  described.     The  fer- 
tility of  the  soil  which  had  been,  so  to  say,  dormant  for  years,  awakens 
with  extraordinary  vigor  as  soon  as  it  is  once  exposed  to  the  vitalizing 
action  of  the  sun's  rays. 

A  year  or  two  after  it  has  been  cleared  the  ground  is  so  completely 
covered  with  vegetation — principally  weeds  and  other  plants  whose  use 
is  not  known,  and  which  are  therefore  considered  noxious — that  not  a 
single  point  of  ground  is  visible,  and  it  is  not  possible  to  advance  a 
single  step  without  previously  opening  a  path.  This  prodigious  fertil- 
ity of  the  soil  makes  the  chief  expense  of  cultivation  in  those  places. 
Weeds  grow  with  such  abundance  and  rapidity  that  it  is  necessary  to 
keep  cutting  them  down  continually,  and  this  operation,  which  is 
called  "  clearing  the  ground,"  must  be  repeated  in  some  places  as 
many  as  eight  times  a  year,  to  keep  the  weeds  from  choking  the  young 
plants,  and  injuring  them  very  seriously. 

In  the  cleared  lands  of  Soconusco,  and  especially  in  those  situated 
at  an  altitude  below  two  thousand  feet  above  the  level  of  the  sea, 
a  species  of  grass  grows  which  attains  a  height  of  twenty-four  inches, 
which,  if  not  cut  down  in  time,  will  choke  the  coffee  plant  completely, 
but  which  can  hardly  ever  be  entirely  extirpated.  Its  seeds  are  prob- 
ably carried  by  the  wind,  so  that  it  grows  everywhere.  This  grass  is 
the  chief  foe  of  the  coffee-tree.  In  order  that  it  may  not  kill  the  plants 
the  ground  must  be  cleared  as  many  as  eight  times  a  year,  which  con- 
stitutes, as  has  been  already  said,  a  heavy  expense,  and  requires,  be- 
sides, a  great  many  hands  in  plantations  of  any  extent. 


294   Coffee  Culture  on  tbe  Soutbern  Coast  ot  Cbiapas, 

c.  Land  Best  Adapted  for  Coffee. — Experience  shows  that  the  coffee 
plant  grows  and  thrives  better  in  virgin  soil  than  in  soil  that  has  been 
already  cultivated.  The  reason  of  this  is  obvious.  Virgin  soil  is 
richer,  has  its  fertilizing  elements  almost  intact,  and  produces  fewer 
weeds.  Because  of  this  last  advantage,  virgin  soil  requires,  during  the 
years  immediately  following  the  planting  of  the  coffee-trees,  fewer 
clearings  than  that  which  has  been  already  cultivated. 

The  only  advantage  of  planting  coffee  in  ground  that  has  been 
already  cultivated  is  that  in  that  case  the  trifling  expense  of  the  felling 
is  avoided ;  but,  on  the  other  hand,  cultivated  ground  has,  compared 
with  virgin  forest  soil,  the  following  disadvantages: 

1.  The  soil  is  inferior. 

2.  It  is  more  exposed  to  the  sun  and  to  the  wind. 

3.  It  is  more  easily  washed  away  by  the  rains. 

4.  It  produces  a  great  many  more  weeds. 

For  these  reasons,  therefore,  virgin  soil  is  always,  when  possible,  to 
be  preferred. 

In  Ceylon  also  the  superiority  of  virgin  soil  over  that  of  ground  that 
has  been  already  cultivated,  for  planting  coffee,  is  recognized. 

F.  Configuration  of  the  Land. — It  is  a  debatable  question  whether 
level  or  broken  ground  is  preferable  for  the  cultivation  of  coffee. 

Regarding  this  point,  we  will  consider  here  the  following: 

a. — Advantages  of  level  ground. 

b. — Advantages  of  hilly  ground. 

c. — Configuration  of  the  ground  best  suited  for  coffee. 

Each  of  these  kinds  of  land  and  its  advantages  will  be  considered 
separately. 

a.  Advantages  of  Level  Ground. — The   advantages  of  level  over 
broken  ground  are  the  following: 

1.  Greater  facility  for  using  implements  and  machinery  which  save 
time  and  labor,  and  consequently  greater  facility  and  cheapness  of 
cultivation. 

2.  Greater  duration  of  the  layer  of  black  or  vegetable  earth,  which 
is  not  so  readily  washed  away  by  the  rains  as  in  hilly  ground,  where 
the  soil  becomes  loosened  by  the  cultivation  bestowed  upon  it. 

Notwithstanding  these  advantages,  the  advantages  presented  by 
hilly  ground  are  so  great  that,  as  a  general  rule,  this  is  to  be  preferred 
to  level  ground  for  the  cultivation  of  coffee,  as  will  be  shown  farther  on. 

b.  Advantages  of  Hilly  Ground. — The  advantages  of  hilly  ground, 
as  compared  with  level  ground,  are  the  following: 

i.  Impossibility  of  the  ground,  even  when  moist,  becoming  miry, 
as  its  inclination  prevents  the  water  from  standing;  while  in  level 
ground,  without  drainage  and  with  a  layer  of  impermeable  clay  near  the 
surface,  there  is  this  danger,  which  is  a  serious  one  for  the  coffee-tree. 


^Temperature*  295 

2.  Greater  facility  for  shielding  the  plant  from  the  sun  for  a  part 
of  the  day ;  as,  when  the  hills  run  from  north  to  south,  which  is  their 
general  direction  in  this  Cordillera,  the  side  facing  the  east  receives- 
the  sun  until  mid-day,  and  that  facing  the  west  after  mid-day. 

3.  Greater  facility  for  obtaining  water,  whether  for  irrigating  the 
plantation  or  moving  the  machinery. 

4.  Facility  for  obtaining  laborers ;  for,  the  hilly  land  in  the  Cordil- 
lera being  situated  at  a  considerable  altitude  above  the  level  of  the 
sea,  the  Indians  of  Guatemala,  who  would  not  go  to  the  plains,  which 
are  here  low  and  hot,  are  willing  to  go  there. 

c.  Configuration  of  the  Ground  best  Suited  for  Coffee. — The  advant- 
ages of  hilly  over  level  ground,  especially  the  two  last  mentioned,  are 
so  notable  in  Soconusco  that  many  think,  and  I  share  their  opinion, 
that  hilly  ground,  with  the  hills  running  from  north  to  south,  is  that  best 
adapted  for  the  cultivation  of  coffee. 

The  coffee  planters  of  Ceylon,  pursuaded  of  the  superior  advant- 
ages of  hilly  over  level  ground,  also  prefer  it  for  their  plantations. 


The  prevailing  opinion  regarding  the  climate  most  suitable  for  cof- 
fee is  a  very  erroneous  one.  It  is  generally  believed  that  the  coffee- 
tree  is  a  native  of  the  tropics,  and  that,  consequently,  the  hotter  the 
temperature  of  a  place  the  more  suitable  it  will  be  for  coffee,  provided 
that  the  other  conditions  favorable  to  its  cultivation  exist  there. 

Experience  has  shown  that  the  zone  most  suitable  for  the  cultivation 
of  coffee  is  bounded  by  isothermal1  lines,  the  mean  temperature  of  which- 
is  from  17°  50'  to  20°  centigrade;  that  is,  a  temperate  climate,  but 
where  it  never  freezes,  as  frosts  would  ruin  the  plant. 

The  mean  temperature  of  the  localities  in  Soconusco  which  are  con- 
sidered best  for  coffee  is,  according  to  the  observations  of  the  able 
engineer,  Don  Miguel  M.  Ponce  de  Leon,  as  follows:  Cacahuatan, 
21°  15'  and  Union  Juarez,  17°  57'. 

3.       ALTITUDE    ABOVE    THE   LEVEL   OF    THE   SEA. 

The  temperature  of  a  place  has  a  direct  relation  to  its  altitude  above 
the  level  of  the  sea,  for,  as  a  general  rule,  the  greater  the  altitude  the 
lower  will  be  the  temperature. 

The  following  points  relating  to  this  subject  will  now  be  considered i 

A. — Productiveness  of  the  coffee-tree  in  relation  to  altitude. 

B. — Advantages  of  high  lands. 

C. — Altitude  most  suitable  for  coffee-raising. 

D. — Altitude  of  various  places  in  Soconusco. 

1 1  will  insert  in  the  Appendix  to  this  paper,  a  brief  statement  of  the  causes  affect- 
ing the  climate  of  a  locality,  written  since  this  book  came  out  in  Spanish. 


296  Coffee  Culture  on  tbe  Soutbetn  Coast  ot  Cbfapas, 

Each  of  these  points  will  be  considered  separately. 

A.  Productiveness  of  the  Coffee- Tree  in  Relation  to  Altitude. — It  has 
been  observed  that  coffee  planted  in  ground  situated  500  feet  above 
the  level  of  the  sea  yields  not  more  than  half  a  pound  of  coffee  per 
tree;  from  500  to  1000  feet,  one  pound  per  tree;  from  1000  to  2000 
feet,  two  pounds  per  tree;  from  2000  to  3000  feet,  three  pounds  per  tree; 
and  from  3000  to  4000,  it  will  yield  as  much  as  four  pounds  per  tree. 

But  this  yield  is  only  obtained  in  the  best  soil  and  under  the  most 
thorough  cultivation. 

B.  Advantages  of  High  Lands. — The  principal  advantages  offered 
for  the  cultivation  of  coffee  by  high  lands,  whose  altitude  does  not 
exceed  4000  feet,  may  be  summed  up  as  follows: 

1.  Larger  yield  of  fruit  per  tree. 

2.  Better  quality  of  the  coffee. 

3.  More  time  in  which  to  gather  the  crop,  as  it  ripens  gradually 
and  not  all  at  once,  as  in  the  low  lands. 

4.  The  plant  is  not  exposed  to  the  heat  of  the  sun  during  the 
whole  of  the  day,  as  will  be  explained  farther  on. 

5.  The  higher  the  land,  the  fewer  weeds  it  will  produce,  and  con- 
sequently fewer  weedings  in  the  year  will  be  necessary. 

6.  The  high  lands  enjoy  a  temperate,  pleasant,  and  in  general 
healthy  climate,  for  which  reason  it  is  easier  to  obtain  laborers  for  those 
lands  than  for  the  low  lands,  which  are  hot,  less  healthy,  and  always 
infested  by  mosquitoes.     In  Soconusco,  especially,  this  advantage  is 
very  great,  as  the  Indians  of  the  cold  regions  of  Guatemala  will  go 
down  to  the  temperate  lands  to  work,  while  they  are  not  willing  to  go 
to  the  low  lands. 

C.  Altitude  most  Suitable  for  Coffee-Growing. — Until  very  recently 
the  low  lands  were  preferred  for  coffee-raising.     Experience  has,  how- 
ever, demonstrated  that  the  best  lands  for  this  purpose  are  those  situ- 
ated at  from  three  to  four  thousand  feet  above  the  level  of  the  sea. 

The  experience  of  other  places  proves  the  correctness  of  this  state- 
ment. Mocha  coffee  grows  in  the  mountainous  regions  of  Arabia 
Felix.  The  best  quality  of  Colima  coffee  is  that  which  grows  on  the 
summit  of  the  Platanarillo ;  and  the  districts  of  Cordova  and  Orizava, 
whose  coffee  is  also  highly  esteemed,  are  situated,  the  former  at  an 
altitude  of  2713,  and  the  latter  of  4028  feet  above  the  level  of  the  sea. 
The  best  coffee  land  in  Ceylon  is  in  Mr.  William  Sabonadiere's  opinion 
located  on  an  average  of  3000  feet  above  the  level  of  the  sea,  although 
in  some  localities  of  that  island  the  coffee  tree  grows  well  at  an  altitude 
of  5000  feet. 

Anyone,  not  familiar  with  plantations,  might  be  easily  deceived  by 
the  appearance  presented  by  the  trees  in  the  low  lands ;  for  sometimes, 
and  especially  when  the  plantations  are  new,  their  leaves  are  of  a 


Exposure  to  tbe  Sun,  297 

healthy  green,  and  they  have  a  thriving  appearance ;  but  very  soon  this 
appearance  changes,  the  branches  lose  their  leaves,  and  the  quantity 
of  fruit  they  produce  is  relatively  small. 

Nothing  is  more  deceptive  than  to  measure  altitudes  by  the  naked 
eye.  To  be  able  to  calculate  altitude  with  some  degree  of  correctnses 
one  should  provide  oneself  with  an  aneroid  barometer,  properly  regu- 
lated, the  price  of  which  is  within  the  reach  of  the  most  modest  fortune ; 
while  from  its  small  bulk — for  it  is  about  the  size  of  a  watch — it  may  be 
carried  with  perfect  ease. 

D.  Altitude  of  Various  Places  in  Soconusco. — Various  observations 
which  I  have  made  with  an  aneroid  barometer  of  localities  in  this 
District  give  approximately  the  following  results :  altitude  of  Cacahua- 
tan,  1400  feet  above  the  level  of  the  sea;  Paso  del  Rio  Ixtal,  1000  feet; 
plantation  of  Mixcum,  1850  feet;  plantation  of  Santo  Domingo,  2300 
feet;  and  Union  Juarez,  3400  feet. 

The  approximate  altitudes  of  some  points  in  Guatemala  where  coffee 
grows  well  are  as  follows:  El  Rodeo,  about  1500  feet;  Las  Mercedes, 
about  2500  feet;  Las  Nubes,  from  3500  to  4000  feet;  Guatemala  City, 
a  little  more  than  4000  feet. 

4.       EXPOSURE   TO    THE   SUN. 

Experience  has  shown  that  the  coffee-tree  thrives  best  and  yields 
most  fruit  when  the  sun  does  not  shine  on  it  during  the  whole  of  the 
day.  Four  or  five  hours'  exposure  to  the  sun  are  sufficient  to  enable  it 
to  attain  its  best  condition.  The  early  morning  sun  is  the  least  bene- 
iicial  to  it,  for  which  reason  it  should,  if  possible,  be  shielded  from  it, 
either  by  planting  shade  trees  to  the  east  of  the  plantation,  or  by  select- 
ing ground  on  which  the  sun  does  not  shine  until  one  or  two  hours  after 
it  has  risen. 

The  principal  advantage  of  hilly  ground  when  the  hills  run 
from  north  to  south,  is,  as  has  been  already  stated,  that  the  sun 
shines  on  them  for  only  a  part  of  the  day — in  the  morning  on  the 
slopes  which  face  the  -east,  and  in  the  afternoon  on  those  which  face 
the  west. 

The  high  lands  of  Soconusco  have  also  the  advantage  that  the  sun 
does  not  shine  on  the  trees  during  the  whole  of  the  day.  On  the 
slope  of  the  Cordillera,  that  is,  from  2500  feet  above  the  level  of  the 
sea  up,  clouds  prevail  during  the  summer  season — which  is  precisely 
when  the  sun  is  hottest — and  frequently  also,  during  the  other  seasons, 
from  ten  o'clock  onward,  which  keep  the  trees  from  being  exposed  to 
the  heat  of  the  sun  during  the  whole  of  the  day.  Perhaps  it  is  to  this 
circumstance  that  the  superior  excellence  of  the  coffee  grown  at  an 
altitude  of  3000  or  4000  feet  above  the  level  of  the  sea  is  due. 


Coffee  Culture  on  tbe  Soutbern  Coast  of  Cbiapas. 


5.      PROTECTION    AGAINST    THE    WINDS. 

It  is  of  the  first  importance  that  the  plantation  should  be  sheltered 
against  the  prevailing  winds.  If  the  plants  were  exposed  to  the  north 
winds,  which  blow  in  Soconusco  from  the  land  and  are  very  dry,  they 
would  wither,  and  if  they  were  exposed  to  the  southeasterly  winds, 
which  are  here  the  prevailing  sea  winds,  they  would  lose  their  blos- 
soms and  yield  scanty  crops,  or  none.  But  it  is  also  necessary  for  the 
growth  and  good  yield  of  the  plant  that  it  should  be  situated  in  a  locality 
where  the  air  circulates  freely. 

It  is  probable  that  the  sea  breezes,  are  highly  beneficial  to  the 
coffee  plant,  for  which  reason  it  is  expedient  that  the  plantation  should 
be  made  on  land  which  faces  the  sea,  although  it  should  be  sheltered 
from  the  prevailing  winds.  The  principal  plantations  of  Soconusco 
and  Guatemala  face  the  Pacific. 

The  violence  of  the  north  winds  which  blow  from  Tehuantepec  to 
Tonala,  and  which  deprive  the  atmosphere  of  moisture,  and  wither 
vegetation,  will  be  an  obstacle  to  the  planting  of  coffee  on  that  part  of 
the  coast,  except  in  such  localities  as  may  be  sheltered  from  the  north 
winds  and  have  a  moist  atmosphere. 

It  has  been  observed  in  Ceylon  that  an  eastern  exposure  is  the  most 
favorable.  In  Soconusco  and  Guatemala  a  southern  exposure  is  the 
most  favorable. 

6.       HUMIDITY. 

The  coffee  plant  requires  moist  but  not  miry  ground.  Water  re- 
tained around  its  roots  injures  it  greatly. 

Even  when  the  surface  of  the  ground  becomes  dry,  in  the  dry 
season,  the  land  will  still  be  suitable  for  coffee  if,  on  digging  down  a 
little,  the  earth  be  found  moist,  but  not  wet. 

A  moist  atmosphere  should  also  be  sought,  as  not  only  the  roots  of 
the  coffee  plant,  but  also  its  leaves  require  moisture.  This  is  another 
of  the  reasons  that  render  the  vicinity  of  the  sea  desirable  for  a  coffee 
plantation. 

Shade  trees  also  keep  the  ground  moist,  for  which  reason  they  may 
be  required  in  certain  localities. 

7.       STREAMS. 

Although  neither  in  Soconusco  nor  in  Guatemala  is  it  necessary  to 
water  the  coffee  plants  —  as  the  rains  suffice  to  make  them  grow  and 
thrive  —  it  is  always  desirable  to  locate  the  coffee  plantation  near  some 
river,  brook,  or  spring,  not  only  because  water  is  an  indispensable  ele- 
ment of  life  for  the  laborers  and  the  animals  employed  on  the  planta- 
tion, but  also  in  order  that  the  water  may  be  used  as  motive  power  for 
the  machinery  that  is  to  prepare  the  berry  for  the  market.  Plantations 


Coffee  Cultivation*  299 

of  any  extent  indispensably  require  considerable  motive  power,  and 
water  power  is  always  to  be  preferred,  as  it  is  the  cheapest. 

In  soil  which  is  not  as  moist  as  that  of  Soconusco,  it  will  probably 
be  necessary  to  employ  irrigation,  in  which  case  it  would  be  still  more 
necessary  to  locate  the  coffee  plantation  near  some  stream. 

8.      SITES   FOR   BUILDING   PURPOSES. 

It  is  desirable  that  the  piece  of  ground  selected  for  a  coffee  plan- 
tation should  have  a  site  suitable  for  the  erection  of  the  buildings 
required.  If  the  ground  be  level  there  will  be  no  difficulty  in  this  re- 
spect. In  hilly  ground  a  level  place  should  be  selected  for  the  drying- 
yard,  in  order  to  avoid  the  expense  of  levelling  the  ground  to  make  a 
yard. 

In  a  plantation  situated  on  level  ground  the  buildings  should  always 
be  erected  in  the  centre  of  the  plantation,  in  order  that  no  part  of  it 
may  be  far  distant  from  the  place  where  the  coffee  is  to  be  prepared 
for  the  market.  In  sloping  ground  the  buildings  should  be  erected  on 
the  lowest  part  of  it,  in  order  that  the  carts  or  animals  employed  in  the 
transportation  of  the  fruit  from  the  field  to  the  place  of  preparation 
may  go  down  laden  and  go  up  unladen,  which  will  facilitate  the  labor, 
to  the  economizing  of  time  and  money. 

The  situation  of  the  buildings  will  depend  on  the  special  conditions 
of  each  locality ;  but,  as  a  general  rule,  it  should  be  determined  by  the 
situation  of  the  water,  unless  there  be  some  means  of  conducting  this 
to  some  other  place  which  is  more  suitable. 

V. 

COFFEE  CULTIVATION. 

It  is  my  purpose  here  to  set  forth  with  as  much  clearness  and  con- 
ciseness as  may  be  possible  the  fundamental  principles  of  modern 
coffee-culture,  to  the  end  that  even  those  who  have  never  seen  a  coffee- 
tree,  may  be  able  to  undertake  the  raising  of  coffee  with  a  good  prob- 
ability of  success. 

I  will  consider  at  greater  length — because  of  the  important  bearing 
which  they  have  on  the  success  of  the  undertaking — the  questions 
whether  or  not  coffee-trees  should  be  planted  in  the  shade,  and  what 
distance  apart  they  ought  to  be  planted ;  discussing  afterwards  the  other 
points  directly  connected  with  the  cultivation  of  coffee  and  its  prepara- 
tion for  the  market. 

I  will  make  occasional  references  to  the  methods  followed  in  the 
cultivation  of  coffee  in  Ceylon ;  for  I  have  observed  that  there  is  a 
great  similarity  between  them  and  the  methods  that  have  given  the  best 
results  here.  The  excellence  of  Ceylon  coffee  is  well  known.  In  the 


300   Coffee  Culture  on  tbe  Soutbern  Coast  ot  Cbiapas. 

year  1868,  913  plantations  produced  1,007,214  English  quintals  of  coif- 
fee.  Trees  planted  in  the  last  century  still  yield  good  crops.  These 
facts  show  how  far  advanced  coffee  culture  is  there,  and  therefore  the 
references  that  may  be  made  to  the  system  followed  in  Ceylon  cannot 
but  be  useful  to  the  Mexican  planters. 

The  following  points,  then,  will  now  be  considered: 

1.  Shade. 

2.  Distance  between  the  trees. 

3.  Nursery. 

4.  Perparation  of  the  ground  for  planting. 

5.  Transplanting. 

6.  Cultivation  of  coffee. 

7.  Fertilizers. 

8.  Gathering  the  crops. 

9.  Preparation  of  the  fruit  for  the  market. 

Each  of  these  subjects  will  be  considered  separately. 

I.       SHADE. 

The  following  points  concerning  the  important  question  of  shade 
will  be  now  considered: 

A. — General  considerations  regarding  shade. 

B. — Advantages  of  shade. 

C. — Disadvantages  of  shade. 

D. — Rules  regarding  shade. 

E. — Trees  to  be  preferred  for  shade. 

Each  of  these  various  aspects  of  the  question  of  shade  will  be  con- 
sidered separately. 

A.  General  Considerations  Regarding  Shade. — The  opinion  has  long 
prevailed  that  the  coffee  plant  requires  shade  to  attain  its  fullest  de- 
velopment, and  that  a  plantation  which  has  no  shade  must  necessarily 
give  bad  results.  Up  to  a  certain  point  this  opinion  may  be  considered 
to  be  well-founded,  so  far  as  regards  plantations  situated  in  the  low 
lands.  For  the  rest,  it  is  evident  that  the  heat  and  light  of  the  sun 
being  indispensable  to  vegetation,  it  cannot  be  absolutely  affirmed  that 
there  are  plants  which  thrive  better  in  the  shade  than  in  the  sun. 

Shade  may  be  made,  however,  a  means  of  reducing  the  temperature, 
and  thus  acclimating  in  certain  hotter  zones  plants  which  would  not 
thrive  in  the  sun  in  those  localities.  As  the  coffee-tree  requires  for  its 
best  development  a  temperature,  for  instance,  of  18°  centigrade,  it  is 
plain  that  if  it  be  planted  in  a  locality  the  temperature  of  which  is  from 
23°  to  24°,  it  will  be  out  of  its  zone, and  that  if  it  then  be  given  shade 
it  will  thrive  better  than  when  exposed  to  the  sun  ;  not  because  it  ab- 
solutely requires  shade,  but  because  this  reduces  the  temperature,  and 
the  coffee  plant  that  is  in  the  shade  will  enjoy  a  lower  temperature, 


Sbafce.  301 

and  consequently  one  that  will  agree  better  with  it  than  a  plant  in  the 
same  locality  that  is  exposed  to  the  sun. 

B.  Advantages  of  Shade. — The  advantages  of  shade  are  the  follow- 
ing: 

1.  It  reduces  the  temperature,  which  is,  however,  an  advantage  only 
when  the  coffee  is  planted  out  of  its  native  zone,  that  is,  in  low  lands. 

2.  It  keeps  the  soil  moist,  sheltering  it  from  the  direct  rays  of  the 
sun. 

3.  It  tends  to  lessen  the  growth  of  weeds,  which  grow  more  vigor- 
ously and  in  greater  abundance  in  ground  exposed  to  the  sun. 

4.  It  affords  some  protection  to  the  coffee-trees  against  the  violence 
of  the  prevailing  winds. 

C.  Disadvantages  of  Shade. — The  disadvantages  of  shade  are  the 
following: 

1.  It  lowers  the  temperature,  which  is  a  serious  disadvantage  when 
coffee  is  planted  in  its  native  zone,  that  is,  from  3000  to  4000  feet 
above  the  level  of  the  sea. 

2.  It  keeps  from  the  plant  the  light  and  heat  of  the  sun,  which 
causes  it  to  thrive  less  and  to  yield  smaller  crops  than  if  it  enjoyed 
those  advantages. 

3.  It  interferes  with  the  free  circulation  of  the  air,  to  the  serious 
injury  of  the  coffee  plant. 

4.  It  takes  from  the  soil,  through  the  roots  of  the  trees  which 
afford  it,  nutritious  elements  which  should  be  reserved  exclusively  for 
the  coffee-tree. 

D.  Rules  regarding  Shade. — From  the  preceding  considerations  the 
following  conclusions  may  be  drawn,  which  constitute  the  best  rules 
that  can  be  given  regarding  shade: 

i.  If  the  coffee  be  planted  in  its  own  zone,  that  is,  at  an  altitude  of 
from  3000  to  4000  feet  above  the  level  of  the  sea,  in  a  temperature  of 
17°  50',  to  1 8°  50'  centigrade,  it  ought  not  to  be  given  any  shade. 

2.  Planted  in  lower  lands,  with  a  higher  temperature,  it  would  be 
advisable  to  give  it  shade,  which  should  increase  in  density  according 
as  the  altitude  decreases  and  the  temperature  increases. 

There  are  some  localities,  however,  which,  although  at  an  altitude 
of  from  3000  to  4000  feet  above  the  level  of  the  sea,  and  enjoying  a 
temperature  of  from  17°  to  1 8°  centigrade,  have  yet  so  dry  a  soil  that 
it  becomes  necessary  to  give  the  plant  a  little  shade,  at  least  for  the 
first  year  after  planting;  taking  away  the  shade  the  second  year,  when 
the  plants  have  taken  firm  root.  This  is  a  peculiarity  of  the  land  of 
Union  Juarez,  which  is  undoubtedly  among  the  best  coffee-growing 
regions  in  Soconusco. 

Perhaps  this  phenomenon  is  due  to  the  fact  that  shade,  in  addition 
to  its  other  advantages,  has  that  of  keeping  the  soil  moist,  as  it  pro- 


302  Coffee  Culture  on  tbe  Soutbern  Coast  of  Cbiapas. 

tects  it  from  the  direct  rays  of  the  sun,  which,  in  hot  climates,  produce 
a  rapid  evaporation.  In  localities  where  the  soil  is  rather  dry,  shade 
may  be  avdantageous  even  when  the  temperature  is  temperate,  as  it 
preserves  the  moisture,  which  is  so  important  for  coffee,  although  in 
this  case  it  is  preferable  to  have  recourse  to  irrigation. 

These  considerations  show  that  it  is  necessary  to  proceed  with 
caution  in  every  instance,  consulting  the  experience  of  men  who  are 
acquainted  with  the  locality  and  making  previously,  in  unfamiliar  re- 
gions, investigations  which  will  show  what  are  the  peculiarities  of  each 
locality. 

The  simplest  rule  which  can  be  given  regarding  shade  is  not  to 
plant  coffee  where  shade  is  required. 

In  Ceylon,  coffee-trees  are  never  shaded,  but,  on  the  other  hand, 
care  is  taken  to  plant  them  in  their  own  zone. 

JS.  Trees  to  be  preferred  for  Shade. — In  each  locality  some  parti- 
cular tree  is  preferred  for  shade,  the  plantain  being  used  in  many.  Its 
shade  is  dense,  and  it  has  the  advantage  of  generally  keeping  the  ground 
moist;  but,  on  the  other  hand,  it  has  the  disadvantage  of  absorbing 
many  of  the  nutritious  elements  of  the  soil,  some  of  which  the  coffee- 
tree  probably  requires  for  its  better  nutrition  and  greater  fructification. 

Should  shade  be  absolutely  required — a  necessity  to  be  regarded, 
however,  as  a  serious  evil — the  best  means  of  providing  it  is  to  leave 
standing  the  tallest  and  least  umbrageous  trees  of  the  forest  to  give  the 
shade  which  is  indispensable,  so  as  to  obtain  the  best  possible  circula- 
tion of  air  in  the  plantation.  The  castor-oil  plant  may  be  used  for 
shade  in  those  nurseries  and  coffee  plantations  in  high  altitudes,  in 
which  shade  should  not  be  given  for  more  than  a  year. 

2.       DISTANCE   BETWEEN    THE   PLANTS. 

To  proceed  with  greater  method  in  the  discussion  of  this  important 
subject,  the  following  points  will  now  be  considered: 

A. — General  considerations  regarding  distance. 

B. — Number  of  plants  in  each  cuerda  according  to  the  distance  be- 
tween them. 

C. — Yield  of  each  cuerda. 

D. — Space  required  by  each  plant. 

E.- — Advantages  of  long  distances. 

F. — Advantages  of  short  distances. 

G. — Rules  regarding  distance. 

Each  of  these  points  will  be  considered  separately. 

A.  General  Considerations  regarding  Distance. — There  is  a  great 
difference  of  opinion  among  planters  with  regard  to  the  distance  apart 
at  which  the  trees  should  be  planted,  some  preferring  long  and  others 
short  distances  between  them.  The  practice  most  generally  followed 


Distance  Between  tbe  plants*  303 

is  to  plant  them  three  varas  apart,  from  tree  to  tree  and  from  furrow  to 
furrow.  Some  time  ago  this  distance  began  to  be  regarded  as  too 
short,  and  plantations  were  laid  out  with  the  trees  three  and  a  half, 
four,  and  even  four  and  a  half  varas  apart.  Afterwards  a  reaction  set 
in,  and  there  is  now  a  tendency  to  shorten  these  distances. 

I  think  that  the  distance  apart  at  which  trees  should  be  planted  de- 
pends on  the  zone,  altitude,  temperature,  and  kind  of  land  selected  for 
the  plantation.  In  a  climate  and  soil  favorable  to  their  fullest  develop- 
ment, the  trees  should  be  planted  farther  apart  than  when  they  are 
planted  where  the  conditions  are  less  propitious. 

The  question  of  distance  is  also  intimately  connected  with  that  of 
the  pruning  of  the  trees,  as  by  means  of  this  operation  the  trees  may 
be  considerably  reduced  in  bulk,  and  may  therefore  be  planted  even  a 
shorter  distance  apart  than  in  localities  more  favorable  for  coffee,  as 
will  be  seen  farther  on.  This  question,  however,  will  be  better  under- 
stood and  a  correct  decision  more  probably  reached  after  a  considera- 
tion of  the  data  to  be  given  farther  on. 

B.  Number  of  Plants  in  each  Cuerda. — A  cuerda  of  land,  which  is  the 
unit  of  agrarian  measurement  in  Soconusco,  and  which  contains  twenty- 
five  yards  square,  or  six  hundred  and  twenty-five  square  *  varas,  will 
contain,  in  round  numbers,  thirty-nine  trees,  planted  four  varas  apart 
on  all  sides;  planted  three  varas  apart,  from  plant  to  plant,  and  four 
yards  from  furrow  to  furrow,  the  cord  will  contain  fifty-two  trees; 
planted  three  and  a  half  varas  apart  on  one  side  and  three  varas  on  the 
other,  the  cuerda  will  contain  fifty-nine  trees ;  planted  three  yards  apart 
on  each  side,  it  will  contain  sixty-nine  trees;  and  one  hundred  and 
four  if  planted  two  varas  apart  from  plant  to  plant  and  three  from  fur- 
row to  furrow.  Planted  in  this  way  there  will  be  a  square,  or  a  rec- 
tangular parallelogram,  between  each  four  plants. 

In  some  plantations  the  system  is  followed,  when  the  trees  are 
planted  farther  apart  than  three  varas  on  each  side,  of  planting  an  ad- 
ditional tree  in  the  centre  of  each  of  the  squares  or  parallelograms 
formed  by  the  plants. 

The  results  of  that  manner  of  planting  are  the  following:  When  the 
trees  are  planted  four  yards  apart  on  each  side,  each  cuerda  will  contain, 
planting  a  tree  in  the  centre  of  each  square,  twenty-seven  additional 
trees ;  that  is  to  say,  a  total  of  sixty-six  trees  instead  of  thirty-nine.  If 
the  same  thing  is  done  when  the  trees  are  planted  four  yards  apart  on 
one  side  and  three  on  the  other,  the  cuerda  will  contain  thirty-eight  ad- 
ditional trees,  or  a  total  of  ninety,  instead  of  fifty-two.  If  the  trees 
are  planted  three  yards  and  a  half  from  furrow  to  furrow  and  three 
yards  from  plant  to  plant,  the  cuerda  will  contain  forty-six  additional 
trees,  which  gives  a  total  of  one  hundred  and  five  trees.  In  squares 
1  Yard  is  used  here  for  a  Mexican  vara. 


304   Coffee  Culture  on  tbe  Soutbern  Coast  of  Cbiapas, 

of  three  yards  on  each  side,  fifty- three  additional  trees  may  be  planted, 
making  a  total,  with  the  sixty-nine  already  counted,  of  one  hundred 
and  twenty-two ;  and  when  the  trees  are  planted  three  yards  apart  on 
one  side  and  two  on  the  other,  a  cuerda  will  contain  eighty-three  addi- 
tional trees,  which,  added  to  the  original  one  hundred  and  five,  give 
a  total  of  one  hundred  and  eighty-eight. 

C.  Yield  of  each  Cuerda. — Considering  the  average  crop  per  year  of 
each  plant  to  be  two  pounds  of  coffee,  each  cuerda,  when  the  plants  are 
four  yards  apart  on  each  side,  will  yield  seventy-eight  pounds  a  year; 
one  hundred  and  four  pounds  if  the  plants  are  three  yards  apart  on 
one  side  and  four  on  the  other;  one  hundred  and  thirty-eight,  if  they 
are  three  yards  apart  on  each  side ;  and  two  hundred  and  eight  pounds 
if  they  are  two  yards  on  one  side  and  three  on  the  other. 

.When  the  additional  tree  is  planted  in  the  middle  of  each  square, 
or  parallelogram,  the  yield  of  each  cuerda  will  be  one  hundred  and 
thirty-two  pounds,  if  the  trees  are  planted  four  yards  apart  on  each  side ; 
one  hundred  and  eighty  pounds  if  they  are  planted  four  yards  apart  on 
one  side  and  three  on  the  other;  two  hundred  and  ten  pounds,  when 
they  are  three  and  a  half  yards  apart  on  one  side  and  three  on  the  other ; 
two  hundred  and  forty-four  pounds,  when  they  are  planted  three  yards 
apart  on  each  side ;  and  three  hundred  and  seventy-six  pounds  when  they 
are  planted  two  yards  apart  on  one  side  and  three  on  the  other. 

It  must  be  observed,  however,  that  the  yield  of  each  tree  depends 
also  on  the  nature  of  the  soil,  on  the  climate,  on  the  degree  of  moisture, 
and  the  other  circumstances  which  have  been  already  enumerated,  in- 
cluding the  distance  apart  at  which  the  trees  are  planted,  for  if  they 
are  planted  too  close  together,  so  that  their  roots  interlace,  the  yield 
will  be  less. 

D.  Area  Required  by  each  Tree. — If  the  trees  are  planted  two  yards 
apart,  from  plant  to  plant,  and  three  yards  from  furrow  to  furrow, 
each  tree  will  have  an  area  of  six  yards  square ;  if  planted  three  yards 
apart,  from  plant  to  plant  and  from  furrow  to  furrow,  each  plant  will 
have  an  area  of  nine  yards  square ;  if  planted  three  and  a  half  yards 
apart  on  each  side,  of  twelve  and  a  quarter  yards;   and  of  sixteen 
yards  square,  if  planted  four  yards  apart  on  each  side. 

When  an  additional  tree  is  planted  in  the  middle  of  each  square,  or 
parallelogram,  each  plant  will  have  an  area  of  ground  nearly  eight 
yards  square ;  if  the  trees  are  planted  four  yards  apart  on  each  side,  of 
a  little  more  than  six ;  when  planted  three  yards  apart  on  one  side  and 
four  on  the  other,  of  nearly  five  yards  square;  when  planted  three  and 
a  half  yards  apart  on  one  side  and  three  on  the  other;  of  four  and  a 
quarter  yards  square,  when  planted  three  yards  apart  on  each  side ;  and 
of  nearly  one  and  three  quarter  yards  when  planted  three  yards  apart 
on  one  side  and  two  on  the  other. 


TRules  1Re0arfcin0  distances.  305 

E.  Advantages  of  Long  Distances. — The  advantages  of  long  dis- 
tances are  the  following: 

1.  Unimpaired  growth  of  the  plant.     This  advantage  is  nullified 
when  pruning  is  performed,  as  will  be  seen  when  this  subject  is  spoken 
of. 

2.  Freer  circulation  of  air  and  light. 

3.  Greater  yield  of  fruit  of  each  tree. 

4.  Greater  facility  for  cultivating  the  soil  and  gathering  the  fruit 
without  injuring  the  branches  of  the  neighboring  trees. 

When  the  trees  are  planted  far  apart  and  by  this  I  mean  at  a 
greater  distance  than  three  and  a  half  yards,  their  branches  will  not 
interlace,  and  free  circulation  of  air,  light  and  heat  among  the 
branches  and  trunks  of  the  plants  will  be  secured.  When  there  is  a 
free  circulation  of  air,  and  the  branches  of  the  trees  are  exposed  to  the 
light  and  heat  of  the  sun,  it  is  evident  that  the  yield  of  each  tree  will 
be  greater  than  if  it  did  not  enjoy  these  advantages.  Besides  which, 
there  will  be  more  space  between  the  trees  for  the  laborers  to  perform 
their  several  tasks  and  the  gatherers  of  the  fruit  to  perform  theirs, 
without  injury  to  the  branches  of  the  neighboring  trees. 

F.  Advantages  of  Short  Distances. — The  advantages  of  short  dis- 
tances are  the  following: 

1.  A  greater  number  of  trees  will  be  contained  in  the  same  space 
of  ground. 

2.  Consequent  economy  of  hands  and  money  in  the  labors  of  the 
plantation. 

3.  Greater  yield  of  fruit  in  a  given  extent  of  ground. 

4.  Greater  facility  for  gathering  the  crop;  for,  the  trees  being 
nearer  together,  it  will  be  easier  to  strip  them  of  their  fruit. 

5.  Fewer  weeds  will  grow,  as  a  smaller  area  of  ground  will  be  ex- 
posed to  the  direct  rays  of  the  sun. 

These  advantages  are  so  important  as  to  make  short  distances  pref- 
erable, as  will  be  shown  farther  on. 

G.  Rules  regarding  Distance. — The  preceding  data  regarding  the 
number  of  trees  contained  in  each  cuerda  and  their  product,  demon- 
strate the  expediency  of  planting  the  trees  as  near  together  as  possible, 
in  order  not  to  waste  space,  provided  that  this  proximity  does  not  in- 
jure the  productiveness  of  the  plants. 

It  is  to  be  observed  that  in  recommending,  as  of  great  advantage, 
the  planting  of  the  trees  short  distances  apart,  the  question  is  not 
simply  one  of  economizing  ground  on  account  of  its  cost,  which  would 
be  a  very  trifling  advantage,  indeed,  where  ground  costs  as  little  as  it 
does  in  Chiapas — but  of  economizing  labor,  time,  and  money,  things 
worth  considering  everywhere,  and  more  especially  in  Soconusco,  where 
there  is  a  great  scarcity  of  hands. 


3o6   Coffee  Culture  on  tbe  Soutbern  Coast  of  Cbfapas. 

Now,  then,  as  the  chief  expense  of  a  plantation  is  in  keeping  it 
clean  of  weeds,  and  as  this  is  done  by  task  work,  the  weeding  of  a  cuerda 
being  a  day's  task  for  a  man,  and  costing  on  an  average  two  reals,  it 
is  evident  that  the  cost  of  keeping  a  cuerda  free  from  weeds  is  the  same 
whether  it  contains  thirty-nine  trees  or  one  hundred  and  four  trees, 
and  whether  each  cuerda  yields  seventy-eight  pounds  or  two  hundred 
and  eight  pounds  of  coffee.  Each  weeding,  for  instance,  of  a  plantation 
of  10,000  trees,  covering  an  area  of  two  hundred  and  fifty-six  cuerdas, 
will  cost  $64,  if  the  trees  are  four  yards  apart  on  each  side ;  while,  if 
they  are  two  yards  on  one  side  and  three  on  the  other,  the  same  number 
of  trees  would  occupy  an  area  of  ninety-six  cuerdas,  and  cost  $24. 

Besides  which,  where  there  is  a  scarcity  of  hands,  it  would  be  easy 
to  keep  a  plantation  of  some  extent  free  from  weeds  if  there  were  one 
hundred  and  four  trees  in  every  cuerda;  but,  to  keep  the  same  number 
of  trees  free  from  weeds,  if  there  were  thirty-nine  in  each  cuerda,  almost 
three  times  the  number  of  hands  would  be  required. 

The  system  of  pruning  which  has  been  tried  with  so  much  success 
in  various  plantations  of  Guatemala,  and  which,  it  may  be  said,  has 
been  carried  to  perfection  in  Ceylon,  has  the  advantage  of  diminishing 
the  foliage  and  increasing  the  fruit,  and  of  preventing  the  branches  of 
the  coffee-trees  from  interlacing.  This  system  consequently  allows  of 
closer  planting,  without  the  objections  above  indicated. 

Taking  all  these  considerations  into  account,  I  am  of  opinion  that, 
other  circumstances  permitting,  the  best  system  is  to  plant  the  trees  at 
a  distance  apart  not  exceeding  three  yards  between  the  furrows  and 
two  between  the  trees.  An  area  of  six  yards  square  ought  to  be 
sufficient  for  each  plant. 

Planting  an  additional  tree  in  the  centre  of  every  four  trees,  form- 
ing a  quincunx,  has  the  objection  that  the  advantage  of  the  straight 
furrows  is  thereby  lost,  and  that  the  intermediate  trees  present  an  ob- 
stacle to  the  free  circulation  of  the  air.  I  think  that  this  system  should 
only  be  adopted  in  the  case  when,  a  plantation  being  already  laid  out 
at  long  distances,  it  is  desired  to  shorten  these. 

The  distance  apart  at  which  trees  are  usually  planted  in  Ceylon  is 
six  English  feet,  or  a  little  more  than  two  yards  on  each  side.  Con- 
sidering the  size  to  which  trees  are  allowed  to  grow  there — which  will 
be  indicated  when  speaking  of  pruning — this  distance  does  not  seem 
unduly  short.  Mr.  Sabonadiere  is  of  opinion,  however,  that  it  would 
be  better  to  plant  them  at  a  distance  of  seven  feet  from  furrow  to  fur- 
row and  six  from  tree  to  tree. 

3.     NURSERY. 

The  nursery  is  the  bed  where,  for  greater  convenience  in  attending 
to  them,  owing  to  the  limited  space  which  they  occupy,  the  young 


307 

plants  are  grown,  until  they  are  of  sufficient  size  to  transplant  to  the 
plantation. 

The  nursery  may  be  formed  of  seeds,  young  plants,  or  slips,  as  will 
be  seen  farther  on. 

The  following  points  in  relation  to  the  nursery  will  now  be  con- 
sidered : 

A. — Advantages  of  a  nursery. 

B. — Land  suitable  for  a  nursery,  and  its  location. 

C.— Seed-plot. 

D. — Nursery  formed  from  seeds. 

E. — Nursery  formed  from  young  plants. 

F. — Nursery  formed  from  slips. 

G. — Nursery  of  plants  that  are  for  sale. 

H. — Nursery  in  Ceylon. 

Each  of  these  points  relating  to  the  nursery  will  be  considered 
separately. 

A.  Advantages  of  a  Nursery. — It  is  advisable  that  the  plants  with 
which  it  is  intended  to  stock  the  plantation  should  be  grown  in  a 
nursery.    The  seed  might,  it  is  true,  be  at  once  sown  in  the  plantation ; 
but  its  cultivation  would  in  this  case  be  much  more  costly,  and  a  con- 
siderable number  of  plants  could  not  be  so  well  cared  for  as  when  they 
are  planted  close  together  in  a  small  space  of  ground. 

A  nursery  of  a  cuerda  will  conveniently  contain  4000  plants,  set  at  a 
distance  apart  to  be  indicated  below,  and  the  weeding  of  the  cuerda 
would  cost  fifty  cents,  supposing  a  man  to  employ  two  days  in  the 
work ;  or,  at  the  most,  a  dollar,  if  four  days  be  spent  on  it ;  while  4000 
plants  in  a  plantation,  at  a  distance  of  three  yards  from  furrow  to  fur- 
row and  two  from  plant  to  plant,  would  occupy  at  least  thirty-eight 
cuerdas ;  and,  fixing  the  weeding  of  each  cuerda  at  twenty-five  cents,  the 
weeding  of  the  4000  plants  would  cost  $9.50.  As  the  weeding  must 
be  frequently  repeated,  especially  while  the  plant  is  very  young,  the 
economy  of  the  nursery  system  will  be  easily  understood. 

A  nursery  is,  besides,  indispensable  to  a  plantation,  not  only  to 
form  it  but  also  to  maintain  it,  as  plants  which  wither  or  die  have  con- 
stantly to  be  replaced,  and  a  good  supply  of  healthy  plants  must  be 
kept  on  hand  for  this  purpose. 

B.  Land  Suitable  for  a  Nursery  and  its  Location. — To  form  the 
nursery,  virgin  soil  should  be  selected.     If  there  is  level  ground,  this 
should  be  preferred.     If  undulating,  ground  should  be  chosen  sloping 
from  north  to  south,  with  lofty  trees  to  the  east,  to  shade  the  nursery 
from  the  heat  of  the  sun  in  the  early  morning  hours. 

The  ground  is  prepared  beginning  with  what  is  here  called  stub- 
bing; this  consists  in  cutting  down  the  young  trees,  bushes,  and  other 
vegetation  which  can  be  cut  with  the  machete ;  the  large  trees  are  then 


Coffee  Culture  on  tbe  Soutbern  Coast  of  Cbiapas. 

felled.  To  dispose  of  the  leaves,  branches,  and  trunks  which  remain- 
after  these  operations,  it  is  customary  to  allow  them  to  dry  and  then 
burn  them. 

In  land  intended  for  coffee  it  is  not  advisable  to  burn  this  waste 
matter;  especially  should  burning  be  avoided  on  land  intended  for  the 
nursery. 

All  the  branches,  twigs,  and  leaves  left  by  the  operation  of  stubbing 
and  hewing  should  be  gathered  in  heaps  and  placed  above  and  below 
the  nursery,  at  distances  of  from  twenty-five  to  thirty  yards  apart. 
Trunks  of  trees  which  are  very  large  are  to  be  left  where  they  have 
fallen,  as  it  would  take  much  time  and  labor  to  remove  them.  All  the 
trunks  and  shoots  that  might  sprout  are  to  be  destroyed  by  the  machete 
and  the  axe,  without  using  the  spade.  These  operations  being  per- 
formed, the  ground  is  ready  for  the  sowing  of  the  nursery. 

Some  planters  dig  up  the  ground  for  the  nursery,  with  the  object  of 
making  it  more  fertile,  and,  as  will  be  seen  farther  on,  this  is  done  in 
Ceylon ;  but  it  seems  to  me  that,  while  this  system  may  be  a  good  one 
in  poor  soil,  it  is  not  so  good  in  the  soil  of  this  coast,  as  the  nursery 
will  thrive  here  without  this  requisite;  and  as,  besides,  if  the  ground 
were  dug  up,  weeds  would  grow  more  luxuriantly,  and  the  rains  would 
soon  wash  away  the  richest  part  of  the  soil. 

Nurseries  are  to  be  formed  at  various  points  on  the  land  where  the 
plantation  is  to  be  laid  out,  for  convenience  in  transplanting  the  young 
trees.  The  seed-plot  is  to  be  placed  beside  the  nursery. 

C.  Seed-Plot. — The  seed-plot  is  a  sort  of  nursery  for  the  nursery. 
To  form  the  seed-plot,  the  berries  or  seeds  of  the  coffee,  are  planted, 
six  inches  apart,  in  holes  half  an  inch  deep,  and  lightly  covered  with 
earth.     All  the  rules  for  choosing  the  land  and  for  sowing  the  seed 
nursery,  to  be  indicated  farther  on,  are  also  to  be  observed  in  the  care 
of  the  seed-plot. 

When  the  seeds  have  germinated,  and  the  young  plants  are  suffi- 
ciently grown  to  bear  transplanting,  they  are  to  be  transferred  to  the 
nursery,  where  they  are  to  be  planted  farther  apart,  and  where  they 
are  to  be  kept  until  they  have  attained  sufficient  growth  to  be  trans- 
planted to  the  plantation. 

For  my  own  part,  I  consider  the  system  of  combining  the  seed- 
plot  and  the  nursery  preferable,  as  labor,  time,  and  money  are  thus 
saved,  and  a  transplantation,  from  which  the  young  plant  always 
suffers,  is,  besides,  avoided.  This  is  the  system  followed  in  Ceylon, 
as  will  be  seen  farther  on,  and  this  seems  to  me  another  proof  of  its 
superiority. 

D.  Nursery  from  Seeds. — It  is  preferable  to  form  the  nursery  from 
seed.     In  regard  to  this  subject  the  general  rules  for  forming  nurseries 
from  young  plants  or  slips  will  be  given. 


Seefcs.  309 

To  take  up  the  points  in  their  order,  the  following  will  now  be  con- 
sidered here : 

a. — Preparation  of  the  ground  for  the  nursery. 

b. — Time  for  planting. 

c.— Seed. 

d. — Planting. 

e. — Replanting. 

f. — Cultivation. 

g. — Pruning. 

h. — Time  for  transplanting. 

Each  of  these  points  will  be  considered  separately. 

a.  Preparation  of  the  Ground  for  the  Nursery. — The  nursery  must 
be  laid  out  in  ridges.     Each  ridge  should  be  a  yard  and  a  quarter  wide 
and  as  long  as  the  ground  will  permit,  if  this  is  hilly,  or  as  may  be  de- 
sired, if  level.     The  ridges,  in  hilly  ground  and  on  slopes  which  run 
from  north  to  south,   should  run  from  east  to  west.     Between  the 
ridges  a  space  of  a  third  of  a  yard  must  be  left  to  serve  as  a  path,  and 
at  the  same  time  as  a  trench  for  draining  the  ridges. 

The  paths  should  be  six  inches  deep ;  the  earth,  dug  from  the  paths 
to  give  them  this  depth,  is  to  be  thrown  on  to  the  ridge  lying  to  the 
north.  All  the  paths  are  to  be  drained  by  means  of  a  deep  trench 
made  on  the  east  or  the  west  of  the  land,  according  as  this  will  allow, 
and  which  is  to  run  from  north  to  south,  so  that  the  rains  may  never 
flood  the  ridges.  Care  must  be  taken  to  keep  the  paths,  as  well  as  the 
ditches,  open. 

b.  Time  for  Planting. — The  rains   must  determine  the  time  for 
planting  the  nursery.     If  planted  from  seed,  the  operation  may  take 
place  a  month  before  the  rainy  season  begins,  as  the  seed  takes  about 
six  weeks  to  germinate,  and  when  it  appears  above  the  ground  the 
rainy  season  will  have  already  set  in      The  rainy  season  generally 
begins  in  April,  in  Soconusco ;  consequently  the  planting  of  the  nursery 
may  be  done  in  March. 

The  seed  should  be  sown  on  a  cloudy  day,  and  it  will  be  better 
still  to  sow  it  when  it  is  raining. 

c.  Seeds. — The  seed  of  the  coffee-tree   proceeds  from  the  fruit, 
which  somewhat  resembles  a  berry,  each  fruit  containing  two  seeds  of 
a  semi-elliptical  form. 

It  is  generally  supposed  that  the  seeds  of  the  coffee-tree  will  not 
germinate  if  they  are  dry  when  planted.  If  they  are  carefully  dried, 
however,  that  is,  if  the  mucilaginous  part  which  covers  the  seed  be  not 
allowed  to  ferment,  they  will  almost  all  germinate.  It  is  better,  how- 
ever, to  be  on  the  safe  side,  and  whenever  it  is  possible  to  use  fresh 
fruit.  Of  these  the  ripest  and  largest  should  be  preferred. 

It  is  better  to  separate  the  two  seeds,  which  each  berry  generally 


Coffee  Culture  on  tbe  Soutbern  Coast  of  Cbfapas, 

contains,  for,  almost  all  of  them  will  germinate  without  separation, 
germination  will  be  more  certain  and  the  roots  will  grow  straighter  if 
they  are  separated. 

Before  sowing,  the  seeds  should  be  put  in  water,  and  those  that 
float  should  be  rejected. 

In  an  interesting  article  on  coffee  published  in  the  Mexican  Agri- 
cultural Dictionary  and  Rural  Economy,  various  rules  are  given  for  im- 
proving the  quality  of  the  coffee-seed.  Certain  plants,  called  mother 
plants,  are  kept  exclusively  for  seed;  the  best  and  largest  fruits  are 
selected ;  these  are  dried  in  the  shade  and  otherwise  carefully  treated, 
so  as  to  obtain  seed  of  superior  excellence.  There  is  no  doubt  that 
the  best  seed  will  produce  the  best  fruit,  and  that  on  this  point,  as  on 
many  others,  coffee  cultivation  is  susceptible  of  great  improvement. 
All  these  rules  may  be  found  in  the  article  referred  to. 

d.  Solving  the  Seed. — The  ground  being  prepared  in  the  manner 
already  described,  the  seeds  are  to  be  sown,    two  by  two,  at  intervals 
of  a  quarter  of  a  yard.     In  each  ridge  four  furrows  are  to  be  made,  a 
quarter  of  a  yard  apart,  and  the  plants  in  each  furrow  are  to  be  set  the 
same  distance  apart.     The  holes  for  sowing  the  seed  may  be  made 
with  the  finger,  half  an  inch  deep;  the  seed  being  then  covered  lightly 
with  earth.     The  whole  ridge  is  then  to  be  covered  with  grass  or  leaves, 
such  as  those  of  the  wild  plantain,  or  any  other  kind  that  may  be  suit- 
able to  prevent  the  seeds  being  washed  away  by  the  rains;  but  this 
should  be  done  in  such  a  way  as  not  to  exclude  the  moisture  of  the 
rain  or  the  light  and  heat  of  the  sun. 

If  any  of  this  covering  should  still  remain  when  the  coffee  begins  to 
sprout,  it  is  to  be  carefully  removed ;  and  if  it  should  decay  before  the 
coffee  appears  above  the  ground,  it  is  to  be  replaced  by  another  covering. 

e.  Replanting. — Replanting  is  generally  necessary,  particularly  when 
the  nursery  is  formed  from  seeds,  as  some  of  the  seeds  do  not  ger- 
minate, and  the  young  plants  often  wither  shortly  after  appearing  above 
ground.     It  will  be  necessary,  therefore,  to  have  near-by  a  seed-plot, 
from  which  the  plants  required  to  replace  these  may  be  taken  without 
loss  of  time. 

/.  Cultivation. — When  two  plants  spring  up  together  in  the  nursery, 
the  most  robust  is  to  be  left  and  the  other  is  to  be  transplanted  to  a 
place  previously  prepared  for  the  purpose. 

When  the  plants  have  appeared  above  the  ground,  the  only  care 
they  require  is  that  the  nursery  be  kept  free  from  weeds.  Any  other 
vegetation  that  appears  must  be  pulled  up  by  the  hand,  without  em- 
ploying a  knife,  machete,  spade,  or  other  instrument,  as  any  of  these 
might  seriously  injure  the  stalks  and  roots  of  the  young  plants. 

It  is  not  necessary  to  water  the  nursery  in  Soconusco,  as  the  rains 
are  sufficient  for  the  purpose. 


flursers  trout  Slips,  311 

g.  Pruning. — As  soon  as  the  young  plant  begins  to  send  forth 
shoots,  that  is,  about  six  months  after  planting,  all  shoots  are  to  be 
cut  off  with  the  exception  of  one,  care  being  taken  that  this  be  the  most 
robust.  In  no  case  should  the  young  plants  be  pruned  in  any  other 
manner. 

h.  Time  for  Transplanting. — In  Soconusco  the  nursery  is  long  in 
attaining  the  growth  necessary  for  transplanting — from  eighteen  months 
to  two  years.  In  Ceylon  transplanting  takes  place  a  year  after  plant- 
ing. Perhaps  this  difference  is  because  the  young  trees  are  transplanted 
there  much  younger  than  here. 

In  Soconusco  and  Guatemala,  transplantation  does  not  take  place 
until  the  plants  are  of  from  three  to  four  crosses,  as  they  say  here,  that 
is,  until  they  have  six  or  eight  branches,  which,  growing  in  opposite 
directions,  take  the  form  of  a  cross. 

E.  Nursery  Formed  from  Young  Plants. — In  forming  this  nursery 
the  same  rules  are  to  be  observed  as  those  given  for  the  nursery  formed 
from  seeds,  with  the  modifications  to  be  indicated  farther  on. 

Planting  is  done  in  Soconusco  in  the  early  part  of  May,  that  is, 
when  the  rainy  season  has  well  set  in,  the  planter  being  always  guided 
by  the  rains  in  this  operation. 

The  holes  for  the  plants  are  to  be  made  a  quarter  of  a  yard  apart, 
with  a  pointed  stick,  half  an  inch  in  thickness.  Four  inches  from  the 
point  of  this  stick,  a  second  and  thinner  stick,  half  a  yard  in  length,  is 
to  be  fastened  crosswise.  This  rude  implement  has  two  objects:  i. 
That  the  holes  may  not  be  made  too  deep,  for  the  tender  roots  of  the 
plant  would  perish  if  they  remained  in  a  vacuum.  2.  That,  the  point 
of  the  first  being  in  the  centre  of  the  second  stick,  the  two  ends  of  the 
latter  may  mark  off  the  distance  of  one  quarter  yard  on  either  side  of 
the  first,  a  hole  being  thus  made  and  the  places  marked  for  two  other 
holes  by  the  same  operation. 

To  form  the  nursery  from  young  plants  the  seed-plot  is  absolutely 
necessary,  unless  there  should  happen  to  be  some  neglected  plantation 
in  the  neighborhood  which  might  furnish  those  required.  When  the 
fruits  are  not  all  picked  from  the  trees  those  that  fall  to  the  ground 
sprout,  and,  if  the  plantation  is  not  weeded,  become  in  due  time  trees 
which  may  be  transplanted  to  the  nursery.  It  is  better,  however,  to 
make  a  seed-plot,  as  the  plants  grow  better  and  with  greater  luxuriance 
in  it  than  in  the  shade  of  the  trees. 

F.  Nursery  Formed  from  Slips. — In  some  localities  that  I  have 
visited,  the  nurseries  instead  of  being  formed  from  seeds  of  very  young 
plants,  are  formed  from  trees  a  year  old  or  more,  which  generally  have 
a  slender  trunk  and  little  foliage;  the  trunk  is  cut  off  to  about  eight 
inches  above  the  root;  the  main  root  and  the  lateral  roots  are  also 
pruned ;  at  the  end  of  a  year  this  plant  will  have  put  forth  shoots,  will 


312   Coffee  Culture  on  tbe  Soutbern  Coast  ot  Cbiapas. 

have  a  thriving  appearance,  and  will  be  in  good  condition  for  trans- 
planting. 

I  think  the  system  of  forming  the  plantation  from  plants  grown 
from  seed  the  best,  however. 

G.  Nursery  of  Plants  for  Selling. — When  there  is  no  nursery  at 
hand,  in  the  locality  where  a  plantation  is  to  be  formed,  it  is  necessary 
to  make  one;  this  will  require  in  some  localities  as  long  as  two  years. 
To  avoid  this  delay  it  will  be  better  to  buy  the  plants  already  old 
enough  to  be  transplanted. 

When  these  are  scarce,  as  is  generally  the  case  here,  a  very  high 
price  must  sometimes  be  paid  for  them.  Thus  it  is  that  nurseries  are 
sometimes  formed  for  the  purpose  of  raising  plants  for  sale;  and  this 
is  sometimes  a  very  lucrative  business.  In  Guatemala  coffee  plants  in 
good  condition  for  planting  have  brought  as  much  as  $40  per  thou- 
sand. In  Soconusco,  plants  in  good  condition  have  been  sold  as  high 
as  $15  per  thousand.  Plants  that  have  grown  up  wild  have  been  sold 
here  at  prices  ranging  from  fifty  cents  to  $5  per  thousand. 

As  the  total  cost  per  thousand  of  raising  plants  from  seed  does  not 
exceed  $2.50,  it  will  at  once  be  seen  that  the  business  of  keeping  nur- 
series for  the  sale  of  young  plants  is  a  profitable  one,  and  at  the  same 
time  one  by  which  coffee  cultivation  is  favored  and  facilitated. 

H.  Nurseries  in  Ceylon. — In  Ceylon  a  piece  of  virgin  land  of  the 
best  kind,  level  if  possible,  and  near  the  water  for  convenience  in 
irrigation,  is  chosen  for  the  nursery.  This  is  cleared;  the  trunks  of 
all  but  the  largest  trees  are  removed.  The  ground  is  dug  up  to  a 
depth  of  nine  or  ten  inches,  and  then  laid  out  in  ridges,  with  narrow 
paths  between  them. 

Coffee  in  the  hull,  generally  taken  from  the  tanks  after  it  has  been 
pulled,  is  used  for  seed ;  it  is  planted  in  furrows  about  six  inches  apart. 

In  planting  the  furrows  a  cord,  stretched  from  end  to  end  of  the 
piece  of  ground  intended  for  the  nursery,  is  used  for  measurement. 
An  opening  an  inch  or  two  in  depth  is  made  the  whole  length  of  the 
furrow,  and  the  seeds  are  deposited  in  it  an  inch  apart,  and  covered 
lightly  with  earth  of  the  best  quality.  This  done,  the  cord  is  taken  to 
the  next  furrow,  where  the  same  operation  is  repeated. 

The  necessary  drains  to  prevent  the  rains  from  injuring  the  plants 
are  then  made. 

The  young  plant  soon  appears  above  the  ground,  and  at  the  end 
of  a  year  it  is  ready  to  transplant. 

When  the  plants  spring  up  very  close  together,  some  of  them  are 
taken  up  and  planted  in  the  next  ridge.  In  this  operation  care  must 
be  taken  that  the  tap  root  of  the  young  plant  be  not  bent ;  to  avoid 
this  a  stick  is  used  to  make  the  hole  which  is  to  receive  the  plant. 
Care  must  also  be  taken  that  no  hollow  space  remain  about  the  root, 


preparation  of  tbe  6rount>  for  planting  Coffee*    313 

for  if  this  should  be  the  case,  the  water  would  settle  in  it  and  rot  the 
root.  To  avoid  these  dangers,  and  when  the  main  root  is  very  long, 
that  part  of  it  which  seems  most  flexible  is  cut  off  obliquely  with  a 
sharp  knife. 

A  bushel  of  coffee  in  the  hull  will  produce  30,000  plants. 

4.       PREPARATION    OF    THE   GROUND    FOR   PLANTING    COFFEE. 

The  preparation  of  the  ground  for  planting  coffee  includes  the  fol- 
lowing operations  : 

A. — Felling  the  trees. 

B. — Simultaneous  sowing. 

C. — Forming  of  a  plan  for  the  plantation. 

D.— Staking. 

E. — Digging  holes. 

Each  of  these  operations  will  receive  due  consideration. 

A.  Felling  the  Trees. — Virgin  soil  being  preferable,  as  has  been 
already  said,  for  making  the  plantation,  the  first  thing  to  be  done  is  to 
clear  it,  an  operation  which  is  performed  about  the  beginning  of  De- 
cember, when  the  dry  season  begins  in  Soconusco.  The  trunks  of 
the  trees  as  well  as  their  layer  branches  must  be  chopped  in  pieces  as 
soon  as  they  are  felled.  The  cutting  should  begin  as  soon  as  the  trees 
are  felled,  for,  as  has  been  already  observed,  they  are  much  easier  to 
put  up  when  green  than  when  dry.  The  clearing  of  the  ground  should 
be  finished  by  the  end  of  February,  the  three  operations  here  called 
"  stubbing,"  "  hewing,"  and  "  chopping  "  having  been  performed  in 
the  manner  already  pointed  out  in  speaking  of  the  nature  of  the  ground 
suitable  for  the  nursery. 

When  the  trees  are  planted  in  broken  ground,  the  process  of  clear- 
ing the  ground  should  be  performed  from  below  up,  for  otherwise  the 
trees  felled  would  present  great  obstacles  to  the  work  of  clearing. 

Dead  trees  should  not  be  left  standing,  for  if  blown  down  by 
the  wind  they  would  seriously  injure  the  plants  on  which  they  might 
fall. 

The  trunks  and  branches  of  trees  that  decay  slowly  should  be  piled 
between  the  furrows,  in  order  that  they  may  not  interfere  with  the 
work  of  planting. 

In  many  places  the  custom  prevails  of  clearing  the  ground  by  felling 
and  chopping  the  trees  in  the  dry  season  and  burning  the  fragments 
when  they  are  dry,  so  that  they  may  not  be  an  impediment  to  the 
work  of  planting. 

The  advantages  of  this  system  are  the  following: 

1.  The  staking  and  the  other  operations  of  planting  are  greatly 
facilitated,  as  the  ground  is  left  clear  and  free  from  obstacles. 

2.  The  burned  ground  produces  fewer  weeds,  as  the  outer  crust 


314   Coffee  Culture  on  tbe  Soutbern  Coast  of  Chiapas. 

of  the  ground  is  calcined,  and  the  cost  of  keeping  it  free  from  weeds  is 
thereby  lessened. 

On  the  other  hand,  the  objections  to  burning  the  ground  are  as 
follows : 

1.  The  richest  and  best  part  of  the  soil,  which  is  that  of  the  sur- 
face, is  burned  out  and  is  therefore  lost,  at  least  for  some  time. 

2.  The  quantity  of  ashes  that  remains  is  injurious  to  the  coffee, 
while,  on  the  other  hand,  if  the  fragments  of  trees  and  bushes  are  left 
to  decay  they  will  in  process  of  time  be  converted  into  a  fertilizer^ 
which  will  enrich  the  soil  and  prove  highly  beneficial  to  the  coffee. 

For  this  reason,  therefore,  it  seems  preferable  not  to  burn  the 
ground. 

B.  Simultaneous   Sowing. — The  custom  prevails  in  Soconusco  of 
sowing  corn  at  the  beginning  of  the  rainy  season,   as  soon   as   the 
ground  is  cleared  and  the  waste  matter  burned,  and  shortly  afterward 
laying  out  the  plantation.     It  is  true  that  in  this  way  the  slight  advan- 
tage is  gained  of  utilizing  ground  already  prepared  for  the  cultivation 
of  the  corn ;  but,  in  exchange,  the  corn  draws  from  the  earth  some  of 
the  elements  required  by  the  coffee  for  its  development,   for  which 
reason  it  is  better  not  to  plant  corn  in  land  intended  for  coffee,  but  to 
leave  for  the  exclusive  benefit  of  this  all  the  elements  which  the  ground 
contains. 

C.  Forming  of  a  Plan  for  a  Plantation. — The  work  of  gathering 
the  fruit  will  be  greatly  facilitated  if  the  plantation  be  divided  into 
squares  of  from  twenty-five  to  thirty  cuerdas  each,  making  them,  when- 
ever possible,  accessible  on  every  side. 

In  some  estates  the  plantation  is  divided  into  squares  of  smaller 
dimensions;  but  the  size  mentioned  satisfies  every  requirement.  Be- 
tween the  squares  a  path,  five  yards  wide,  available  for  carts,  should,, 
if  possible,  be  left. 

In  level  ground  this  operation  is  very  simple,  but  even  there  it 
would  be  well  to  lay  out  a  plan  showing  the  situation  of  the  various 
parts  of  the  plantation,  the  roads,  etc.,  but  this  will  be  of  even  greater 
utility  when  the  ground  is  hilly. 

Without  such  a  plan  there  would  be  the  danger  of  planting  trees  in 
places  where  the  paths  would  have  to  pass,  which  would  cause  the  use- 
less expense  of  planting  trees  that  would  afterwards  have  to  be 
uprooted,  besides  the  loss  of  the  time  occupied  in  their  growth. 

D.  Staking. — The  following  points  relating  to  the  staking  of  the 
ground  will  be  now  considered: 

a. — Object,  advantages,  and  time  of  staking. 

b. — Staking  in  Soconusco. 

c. — Staking  in  Ceylon. 

Each  of  these  points  will  be  considered  separately. 


Stafeina.  315 

a.  Object,  Advantages,  and  Time  of  Staking. — The  object  of  stak- 
ing is  to  secure  the  planting  of  the  trees  in  straight  lines,  each  stake 
marking  the  place  where  a  tree  is  to  be  planted. 

It  might  at  first  sight  appear  an  easy  matter  to  mark  straight  fur- 
rows; but  when  this  operation  is  performed  in  hilly  ground  and  on  a 
surface  covered  with  obstructions,  such  as  trunks  and  branches  of  trees, 
barrancas,  rocks,  etc.,  it  is  much  more  difficult  than  it  seems. 

It  is  of  the  greatest  importance,  however,  that  the  furrows  of  the 
plantation  should  be  straight,  not  only  so  that  the  air  may  circulate 
more  freely  among  the  plants  but  also  in  order  to  facilitate  the  future 
labors  of  the  plantation.  For  this  reason,  therefore,  no  labor  or  ex- 
pense should  be  spared  to  make  the  furrow  straight.  To  obtain  this  re- 
sult various  methods  are  employed,  which  will  be  here  briefly  mentioned. 

The  staking  of  the  ground  should  begin  as  soon  as  the  burning  has 
been  done,  or  as  soon  as  the  branches  and  trunks  of  the  trees  that 
have  been  cut  down,  and  other  waste  vegetation  have  been  collected 
in  heaps,  if  they  have  not  been  burned. 

b.  Staking  in  Soconusco. — To  stake  a  piece  of  ground,  two  straight 
poles  of  a  length  equal  to  the  distance  apart  at  which  the  coffee-trees 
are  to  be  planted,  are  cut  of  some  strong  wood,  and  given  to  two 
men      Two  lines,  which  are  to  serve  as  a  basis  for  the  others,  are  then 
drawn  at  right  angles,  and  marked  on  the  ground  by  means  of  two 
cords.     When  these  two  lines  are  marked,  stakes  are  placed  at  regular 
intervals  along  the  lines.     Then  one  of  the  men  will  fix  the  end  of  his 
pole  in  the  place  marked  by  the  second  stake  of  one  of  the  two  lines 
which  serve  as  base  lines,  and  which  have  already  been  staked,  and  the 
second  man  will  fix  one  end  of  his  pole  in  the  second  stake  of  the 
other  line  which  has  been  staked,  so  that  the  other  ends  of  the  two 
poles  will  meet,  thus  forming  a  rectangle.     A  third  man  will  bring 
together  these  two  ends  of  the  two  poles  and  will  plant  a  stake  at  their 
point  of  intersection,  taking  care  that  the  stake  shall  remain  in  a  per- 
pendicular position. 

In  this  way  the  operation  is  to  be  continued,  the  end  of  one  of  the 
poles  being  placed  at  the  third  stake  of  the  line,  and  the  end  of  the 
other  pole  at  the  stake  which  has  just  been  fixed  on  the  ground,  in  order 
that  the  other  stake  may  be  placed  in  the  vertex  of  the  new  angle  thus 
formed,  and  so  on  successively. 

When  many  hands  are  to  be  employed  in  staking,  they  are  to  be 
divided  into  parties  of  three,  and  the  operation  is  to  be  conducted  as 
described,  two  of  each  party  being  intrusted  with  the  carrying  of  the 
poles  and  the  third  with  the  joining  of  the  poles  and  the  placing  of  the 
stakes. 

Two  of  the  men  staking  are  also  to  see  that  the  stakes  are  placed 
upright,  and  whenever  they  observe  that  a  stake  has  been  misplaced 


316  Coffee  Culture  on  tbe  Soutbern  Coast  of  Cbiapas. 

and  requires  to  be  replaced,  they  are  to  call  the  third  man  to  do  it. 
Without  these  precautions  it  would  be  difficult  to  trace  straight  lines. 

The  task  for  each  of  the  stakers  should  be  750  stakes  per  day. 

c.  Staking  in  Ceylon. — Believing  that  rules  for  facilitating  the  opera- 
tion of  staking  would  be  useful  for  planters,  I  give  herewith  a  resume* 
of  the  systems  followed  in  Ceylon.  These  are  two,  one  recommended 
by  Laborie  and  the  other  by  Sabonadiere. 

Laborie  System. — On  a  cord  of  the  same  length  as  the  plantation, 
strips  of  cloth  are  fastened  at  regular  intervals — as  in  the  tail  of  a  boy's 
kite — representing  the  places  at  which  the  coffee-trees  are  to  be  planted. 
Two  men  take  the  ends  of  the  cord  and  stretch  it  tightly  along  the 
ground.  If  there  should  be  any  obstacles  in  the  way,  such  as  trunks 
of  trees,  the  cord  is  not  placed  on  one  side  of  them  but  over  them. 

Other  men  plant  stakes  of  from  eighteen  to  twenty-four  inches  in 
length  in  the  places  marked  by  the  pieces  of  cloth,  taking  care  to  fix 
them  always  on  the  same  side  of  the  cord.  If  the  cord  should  be 
raised  above  the  ground  by  any  obstruction,  the  stake  is  let  fall  per- 
pendicularly from  the  place  marked  by  the  piece  of  cloth,  and  driven 
in  the  spot  where  it  falls.  When  this  is  done  the  cord  is  moved  for- 
ward to  mark  another  furrow,  the  distance  between  the  furrows  being 
marked  at  either  end  by  poles  of  the  required  length ;  and  so  on  with 
all  the  furrows. 

Sabonadiere  System. — Eight  or  ten  thick  cords,  of  the  length  re- 
quired, all  being  of  the  same  length,  are  procured.  Then  a  straight 
line,  which  is  to  serve  as  a  base  for  the  others,  is  traced,  following,  as 
far  as  possible,  the  direction  of  the  slope  or  the  undulations  of  the 
ground,  so  that  the  stones  which  become  loosened  may  fall  between 
the  furrows  and  not  injure  the  trees.  The  base  line  being  marked, 
another  line  which  shall  intersect  it  is  drawn  at  right  angles  to  it,  a 
carpenter's  square  being  used  for  the  purpose. 

Then  the  distances  at  which  the  trees  are  to  be  planted  are  marked 
off  with  a  pole  on  the  lines  which  serve  as  base  lines,  and  wherever  a 
tree  is  to  be  planted  a  stake  is  set.  To  each  of  the  transverse  stakes 
the  end  of  one  of  the  cords  is  fastened,  and  the  other  end  is  carried 
over  to  the  other  side  of  the  plantation.  Three  or  four  men,  provided 
with  poles  of  the  same  length  as  the  distance  apart  at  which  the  trees 
should  be  placed,  which  is  the  same  distance  as  that  at  which  the  cords 
should  be  placed,  are  stationed  there,  for  the  purpose  of  seeing  that  the 
cords  run  parallel  to  one  another,  an  operation  which,  as  has  been 
said,  is  difficult  in  broken  ground  where  there  are  tree  trunks,  rocks, 
and  ravines.  In  this  case  it  will  be  necessary  to  fasten  the  cords  to 
the  ground  at  intervals  with  stakes. 

After  the  cords  have  been  fastened,  bundles  of  stakes  are  placed  at 
convenient  points  to  be  ready  to  be  set  in  their  respective  positions. 


fcoles  for  planting  317 

Another  thick  cord  is  then  taken  by  two  men  who  stretch  it  across 
the  ten  parallel  cords  so  that  it  will  form  right  angles  with  them,  at  the 
distance  apart  at  which  the  furrows  are  to  be  made,  and  which  is  to  be 
measured  off  by  poles.  These  two  men  place  two  stakes  at  the  points 
at  which  the  two  extremities  of  the  cord,  stretched  taut,  are  to  be 
fastened.  The  stakers  place  the  stakes  at  the  points  where  the  thick 
cord  crosses  the  ten  parallel  cords. 

In  order  to  be  certain  that  the  cords  cross  at  equal  distances,  it  will 
be  well  to  measure  the  distances  before  setting  the  stakes. 

When  all  the  stakes  of  one  row  are  placed  the  cord  is  taken  to  the 
next  furrow,  and  the  operation  is  continued  in  the  manner  described, 
until  the  whole  of  the  ground  is  staked. 

When  a  row  of  stakes  has  been  placed,  it  will  be  necessary  to 
measure  the  distances  with  the  poles  only  on  the  side  on  which  there 
are  no  stakes,  since  the  superadded  cord  is  fastened  to  those  already 
planted.  Care  should  also  be  taken  to  use  the  carpenter's  square  every 
time  the  cords  are  placed  anew,  as  only  in  this  way  can  the  furrows  for 
the  trees  be  made  quite  straight,  and  the  trees  form  perfect  squares. 

When  they  cross  at  some  distance  above  the  surface  of  the  ground, 
a  stone  is  dropped  from  the  point  of  their  intersection  to  mark  the 
place  where  the  stake  is  to  be  set.  When  there  is  a  rock,  tree  trunk, 
or  other  obstacle  in  the  place  where  the  stake  should  be  set,  this  is  not 
placed  on  one  side  of  it,  as  the  symmetry  of  the  furrows  would  be  thus 
destroyed,  but  the  place  is  left  vacant. 

Ten  boys  and  an  overseer  plant  in  Ceylon  as  many  as  2400  stakes  a 
day  by  this  system. 

Respective  Advantages  of  the  Two  Systems. — The  system  of  Laborie 
would  be  perfect,  on  account  of  its  simplicity,  in  level  land  recently 
cleared,  where  the  cord  would  rest  upon  the  ground,  but  in  hilly  land 
with  virgin  soil,  where  there  are  insuperable  obstacles  to  the  regular 
placing  of  the  stakes,  the  furrows  could  not  be  made  straight,  following 
this  system;  and  for  this  kind  of  land  the  system  described  by  Mr. 
Sabonadiere  is  therefore  preferable. 

JS.  Digging  the  Holes. — In  regard  to  this  operation,  which  follows 
the  staking  of  the  ground,  the  following  points  are  to  be  considered. 

a. — Time  for  digging  the  holes. 

b. — Manner  of  digging  the  holes. 

c. — Size  of  the  holes. 

d. — Planting  without  holes. 

Each  of  these  points  will  be  considered  separately. 

a.  Time  for  Digging  the  Holes. — After  planting  all  the  stakes,  a 
hole  is  made  in  the  place  marked  by  each  stake,  which  operation  is 
performed  in  Soconusco  in  April,  at  the  beginning  of  the  rainy  season. 
The  earlier  it  is  done  the  better. 


318   Coffee  Culture  on  tbe  Soutbern  Coast  of  Cbtapas. 

b.  Manner  of  Digging  the  Holes. — In  order  that  the  holes  may  be 
made  in  the  exact  spot  marked  for  them  by  the  stake  a  circle  should 
be  traced  around  this  before  it  is  removed,  care  being  taken  that  the 
hole  be  made  in  the  centre  of  the  circle,  for  if  there  should  be  the 
slightest  deviation  the  furrows  would  not  be  straight. 

The  holes  are  generally  dug  with  the  machete.  There  is  an  Ameri- 
can borer  which  works  well  and  quickly  in  ground  that  has  no  stones. 

The  clay  which  is  dug  out  is  to  be  heaped  up  on  the  lower  side  of 
the  hole,  so  that  the  rains  may  not  wash  it  in  again. 

Exposing  the  earth  dug  out  of  the  holes  to  the  air,  sun,  light,  and 
rain  greatly  improves  its  quality. 

The  task  for  small  holes  is  250  per  day. 

c.  Size  of  the  Holes. — The  size  of  the  holes  depends  upon  the  nature 
of  the  ground  in  which  they  are  made;  the  more  compact  and  the 
poorer  this  is  the  larger  should  be  the  hole,  and  vice  versa^  the  richer 
and  looser  the  soil,  the  smaller  should  be  the  hole.     Its  size  also  should 
be  regulated  by  the  size  of  the  trees  to  be  planted. 

If  the  nursery  be  still  small,  or,  as  they  say  in  Soconusco,  of  two  or 
three  crosses — that  is,  if  each  plant  has  only  four  or  six  branches,  which, 
growing  in  opposite  directions,  take  the  form  of  a  cross,  as  has  been 
already  explained,  when  speaking  of  the  nursery — the  holes  should  not 
be  larger  than  a  quarter  of  a  yard  in  depth  and  a  quarter  of  a  yard  in 
diameter. 

When  the  soil  of  the  nursery  is  black  or  when  the  young  plants  are 
of  more  than  three  crosses,  the  holes  should  be  larger;  for  as  black 
earth  is  very  crumbly,  the  lump  of  earth  attached  to  the  roots  of  the 
plants  will  be  larger  than  when  the  soil  is  clayey. 

The  general  size  of  the  holes  in  Ceylon  is  eighteen  inches  in  diame- 
ter and  eighteen  inches  in  depth. 

d.  Planting  without  Holes.  — In  lands  where  the  soil  is  loose,  the 
young  trees  may  be  planted,  introducing  a  long,  thick  stick  in  the  hole 
left  by  the  one  which  served  as  a  mark,  and  moving  it  in  every  direc- 
tion, to  make  a  larger  hole  for  the  plant.     The  hole  is  filled  up  with 
earth,  which  must  be  pressed  down  with  the  foot  to  make  it  firm. 

This  mode  of  planting  has  the  advantage  of  saving  labor  and 
money;  but  it  has  also  some  disadvantages,  which  will  be  mentioned 
when  speaking  of  planting  in  slips. 

5.    TRANSPLANTING. 

Transplanting  coffee,  or  setting  the  trees  in  their  places,  which  is 
the  operation  that  follows  the  opening  of  the  holes,  is  done  in  one  of 
three  ways,  to  be  indicated  further  on. 

A. — Time  for  transplanting. 

B. — Transplanting  with  the  earth  adhering  to  the  roots. 


^Transplanting  319 

C. — Transplanting  with  the  roots  free  from  earth. 

D. — Transplanting  in  slips. 

E. — Transplanting  in  Ceylon. 

Each  of  the  methods  of  transplanting  mentioned,  and  the  time  for 
performing  it,  will  be  considered  separately. 

A.  Time  for  Transplanting. — Transplanting  is  to  be  begun  as  soon 
as  the  rainy  season  has  set  in.  The  trees  which  are  transplanted  at 
the  beginning  of  the  rainy  season  will  have  the  advantage  of  the  rains 
during  the  whole  of  the  season,  and  will  take  firmer  root  and  thrive 
better  than  those  that  are  transplanted  in  the  middle,  or  at  the  end  of 
the  season. 

JS.  Transplanting  with  the  Earth  adhering  to  the  Roots, — Taking  up 
in  their  order  the  different  points  relating  to  this  manner  of  transplant- 
ing, the  following  will  now  be  considered: 

a. — Advantages  of  transplanting  with  the  earth  adhering  to  the 
roots. 

b. — Method  of  transplanting  with  the  earth  adhering  to  the  roots. 

c. — Quantity  of  earth  adhering  to  the  roots. 

d. — Size  of  the  plants  at  the  time  of  transplanting. 

e. — Pruning  the  root  of  the  plant  in  transplanting. 

Each  of  these  points  will  be  considered  separately. 

a.  Advantages  of  Transplanting  with  the  Earth  adhering  to  the  Roots. 
— Planting  should  be  done  in  this  manner  whenever  it  is  possible,  as 
the  plant  then  scarcely  suffers  any  disturbance  consequent  to  trans- 
planting.    It  has  been  observed  that  when  trees  already  bearing  fruit 
have  been  transplanted  with  the  earth  adhering  to  the  roots,  the  tree 
has  suffered  so  little  that  it  has  not  lost  even  its  fruit. 

To  plant  coffee  with  the  earth  adhering  to  the  roots  it  will  be  nec- 
essary to  have  the  nursery  very  near  the  plantation,  as  otherwise  the 
transportation  of  the  plants  would  be  a  slow  and  costly  operation,  and 
the  earth  would  fall  away  in  transporting  the  plants  to  a  distance, 
leaving  the  roots  bare.  The  safest  way,  therefore,  is  first  to  lay  out 
the  nursery,  and  when  the  plants  are  of  a  suitable  size  to  transplant, 
which,  in  Soconusco,  is  generally  at  the  end  of  a  year  and  a  half,  or  two 
years,  to  transplant  them  with  the  earth  adhering  to  the  roots.  If  this 
be  done  it  is  certain  that  a  year  after  transplanting  the  plant  will  yield 
its  first  crop. 

Transplanting  with  the  earth  adhering  to  the  roots  is  more  expen- 
sive, and  requires  more  hands  than  when  done  with  the  roots  bare. 
For  these  reasons,  in  Ceylon,  coffee  is  transplanted  in  the  former  and 
not  in  the  latter  manner. 

b.  Manner  of  Transplanting  with  the  Earth  adhering  to  the  Roots.  — 
When  the  ground  is  hilly,  transplanting  should  be  begun  in  the  lower 
part  of  the  plantation,  and  from  thence  continued  upward. 


320   coffee  Culture  on  tbe  Soutbern  Coast  ot  Cbiapas, 

In  transplanting  in  this  manner,  the  root  of  the  plant  is  placed  in 
the  hole  made  for  it  beforehand,  the  plant  being  held  upright  in  one 
hand  while  the  hole  is  filled  in  with  earth  with  the  other.  When  filling 
the  hole,  the  earth  is  to  be  pressed  with  the  hand  around  the  root  of 
the  plant,  care  being  taken  not  to  detach  the  soil  from  it.  After  the 
hole  has  been  filled  in,  the  earth  is  to  be  pressed  down  with  the  foot. 

Should  the  earth  around  the  root  be  crumbly  it  should  be  enveloped 
with  large  leaves,  which  should  be  tied  around  it  to  prevent  its  falling 
apart. 

Sometimes  the  leaves  are  removed  before  planting  the  tree,  but,  in 
my  opinion,  it  is  better  not  to  remove  them,  as  they  will  serve  as  a 
good  vegetable  manure. 

The  trees  should  be  transported  from  the  nursery  to  the  plantation 
by  hand,  or  on  the  shoulders  of  men,  placing  the  trees  in  a  species  of 
barrow  made  of  their  branches,  each  barrow  containing  from  ten  to 
thirty  plants,  according  to  the  quantity  of  earth  adhering  to  the  roots. 

To  fill  in  the  hole,  earth  from  the  surface  of  the  ground  is  to  be 
preferred  to  that  which  was  dug  out  of  the  hole,  as  the  former  is  always 
better.  Special  care  should  be  taken  to  observe  this  rule  when  the  soil 
is  poor. 

The  men  who  perform  the  transplanting  must  be  closely  watched, 
to  make  sure  that  the  work  is  well  done,  for  if  badly  transplanted  the 
plants  would  wither,  or  at  least  would  be  a  year  later  in  bearing.  In 
no  case  should  transplanting  be  done  by  the  job. 

c.  Quantity  of  Earth  adhering  to  the  Roots. — The  quantity  of  earth 
adhering  to  the  root,  will  depend  on  the  size  of  the  plant  that  is  to  be 
transplanted,  and  on  the  nature  of  the  ground  where  the  nursery  is 
made. 

When  the  plants  that  are  to  be  transplanted  are  small — and  farther 
on  it  will  be  shown  that  it  is  advisable  to  transplant  them  while  small — 
about  four  inches  of  earth  on  either  side  may  be  left  on  the  root. 

When  the  plants  are  large,  or  when  the  soil  of  the  nursery  is  very 
loose,  sufficient  earth  should  be  left  on  the  roots  to  avoid  the  danger 
of  its  falling  away  and  leaving  them  bare.  Seven  inches  on  each  side 
would  be  a  suitable  size. 

d.  Size  of  the  Plants  at  the  Time  of  Transplanting. — The  plants  at 
the  time  of  transplanting  should  be  small ;  that  is,  they  should  be  of 
two  or  three  crosses,  as  they  then  take  root  more  readily,  and  grow 
better  and  quicker. 

The  plants  should  be  transplanted  very  young,  however,  only  when 
the  plantation  can  be  kept  free  from  weeds  and  when  the  soil  of  the 
nursery  is  black,  in  which  case  it  has  little  consistency.  When  these 
conditions  do  not  occur,  the  plants  should  be  transplanted  when  they 
are  of  four  or  five  crosses. 


different  flDanners  of  ^Transplanting.  321 

e.  Pruning  the  Root  of  the  Plant  in  Transplanting. — The  plants 
should  not  be  pruned  at  the  time  of  transplanting  them. 

The  principal  root  of  the  plant,  however,  should  be  cut  off  level 
with  the  earth  adhering  to  it,  and  in  case  this  should  fall  away,  leaving 
the  roots  bare,  the  main  root  should  be  shortened  until  it  is  of  sufficient 
thickness  not  to  bend;  for,  as  has  been  already  said,  if  this  happens 
the  tree  will  die,  or  will  not  produce  fruit. 

Some  believe  that  when  the  tap  root  is  pruned  the  plant  will  stop 
growing  vertically,  but  will  send  out  small  roots  on  either  side.  I  can- 
not speak  with  certainty  on  this  point;  but  if  such  be  the  case  it 
would  be  better  not  to  prune  the  root,  for  the  deeper  this  strikes  into 
the  ground  the  better  able  the  plant  will  be  to  bear  the  dry  season 
without  requiring  irrigation. 

C.  Transplanting  with  the  Root  free  from  Earth. — Trees  are  said  in 
Soconusco  to  be  set  or  transplanted  with  the  roots  bare  when  they  are 
taken  from  the  nursery  or  the  place  where  they  have  grown  up  without 
any  of  the  soil  adhering  to  the  roots,  or  when,  on  taking  them  out  of 
the  ground,  the  earth  has  fallen  off,  leaving  the  roots  bare. 

The  following  points  with  reference  to  this  manner  of  planting 
will  now  be  considered : 

a. — Manner  of  planting  coffee-trees  with  the  roots  bare. 

b. — Disadvantage  of  transplanting  coffee-trees  with  the  roots  bare. 

c. — Case  in  which  planting  should  be  done  with  the  roots  bare. 

Each  of  these  points  will  be  considered  separately. 

a.  Manner  of  Planting  Coffee-  Trees  with  the  Roots  Bare. — In  trans- 
planting with  the  roots  bare  the  same  rules  are  to  be  observed  as  in 
transplanting  with  the  earth  adhering  to  the  roots,  it  being  observed 
that  in  the  former  case  the  earth  must  be  pressed  much  more  compactly 
around  the  root  than  in  the  latter,  and  if  so  the  plant  cannot  be  pulled 
up  without  great  effort;  this  shows  that  it  is  well  planted. 

Care  should  be  taken  not  to  expose  the  young  plants  that  are  to  be 
transplanted  to  the  heat  of  the  sun,  which  would  wither  them;  they 
should  be  placed  in  the  shade  and  their  roots  kept  moist. 

The  operation  of  planting  with  the  roots  bare  is  sometimes  simplified 
by  omitting  the  digging  of  the  holes.  A  long-pointed  stick  is  driven 
into  the  ground  in  the  place  where  the  plant  is  to  be  set,  this  is  placed 
in  the  hole  thus  made,  the  hole  is  filled  with  earth,  and  another  hole  is 
then  made  close  beside  the  first  with  the  same  stick,  so  that  the  earth 
in  the  first  hole  shall  be  firmly  compressed.  In  order  to  ascertain 
whether  the  plant  has  been  successfully  transplanted  or  not  a  slight 
effort  should  be  made  to  pull  it  up,  and  if  it  offers  some  resistance  it 
may  be  considered  well  planted.  A  man  can  plant  in  this  manner 
from  80  to  150  plants  a  day.  With  this  system  several  operations  are 
shortened  and  the  cost  of  planting  is  less.  It  has  the  disadvantage, 


322   (Toffee  Culture  on  tbe  Soutbern  (Toast  of  Gbiapas, 

however,  that  a  vacant  space  almost  always  remains  around  the  root, 
where  the  water  gathers,  sometimes  causing  the  roots  to  decay.  The 
roots  are  also  more  likely  to  deteriorate  with  this  system  than  with  the 
other. 

b.  Disadvantages  of  Transplanting  with  the  Roots  Bare. — When  the 
planting  is  done  with  the  roots  bare,  the  plant  suffers  greatly  from  the 
disturbance  caused  by  transplanting,  and  a  year  generally  elapses  be- 
fore it  returns  to  the  condition  in  which  it  was  when  transplanted. 

It  is  evident,  therefore,  that  if  the  plant  is  put  back  a  year  by 
transplanting,  this  year  might  have  been  better  spent  in  the  nursery 
than  in  the  plantation,  for  the  reason  that  it  would  cost  less  to  keep 
the  ground  free  from  weeds  in  the  former  case  than  in  the  latter,  and 
that  at  the  end  of  the  year  transplanting  might  be  done  with  the  earth 
attached  to  the  roots. 

Many  planters,  with  the  object  of  saving  the  year  and  a  half  or  two 
years  which  the  young  plant  would  spend  in  the  nursery,  form  their 
plantations  with  wild  plants  or  plants  taken  from  a  nursery  already 
formed,  the  planting  being  done  with  the  roots  bare,  the  distance  of  the 
place  from  which  they  are  taken  admitting  of  no  other  manner.  This 
is  a  false  economy  of  time,  for  in  order  to  save  a  few  months  of  care 
of  the  nursery,  the  whole  year  which  the  plants  thus  transplanted  are 
put  back  is  lost,  and  the  heavy  expense  is  incurred  of  from  four  to  six 
weedings  of  the  whole  plantation. 

c.  Case  in  which  Transplanting  should  be  done  with  the  Roots  Bare. — 
The  only  case  in  which  trees  should  be  planted  with  the  roots  bare  is 
when,  from  the  distance  between  the  place  where  they  have  been  grown 
and  the  plantation,  it  would  be  difficult  if  not  impossible  to  transport 
them  to  it  with  the  earth  attached  to  the  roots. 

D.  Transplanting  in  Slips. — When  the  young  plants  for  the  planta- 
tion are  taken  neither  from  the  nursery  nor  from  an  abandoned  plan- 
tation, but  from  trees  already  grown,  it  is  said  that  the  plantation  is 
formed  from  slips.     The  trunk  is  generally  cut  off  eight  or  ten  inches 
above  the  root,  in  order  that  it  may  grow  more  vigorously.     This  kind 
of  planting  is  always  done  with  the  roots  bare. 

Transplanting  in  slips  is  the  least  advisable  way  of  all,  and  should 
never  be  adopted  except  when  there  is  no  other  way  of  forming  the 
plantation.  In  some  cases,  however,  it  has  given  good  results. 

E.  Transplanting  in  Ceylon. — Transplanting  coffee  plants  in  Ceylon 
is  performed,  according  to  Mr.  Sabonadiere,  in  the  following  manner: 
The  young  plants  grown  in  the  nursery  are  pulled  up  with  the  hand; 
those  that  have  crooked  roots  are  thrown  away  as  useless ;  with  a  sharp 
knife  the  flexible  part  of  the  tap  root  is  cut  off;  and  the  lateral  roots 
are  also  shortened,  as  they  are  generally  very  long,  and  this  trimming 
prevents   them  from  becoming  tangled  in  the   transplanting,   which 


Cultivation  of  Coffee.  323 

would  cause  them  to  decay.  The  hole  is  then  filled  in  with  the  earth 
that  has  been  removed  from  it,  care  being  taken  to  put  no  stones  in 
with  it  and  to  keep  the  tap  root  from  bending  and  the  lateral  roots 
from  tangling.  The  plant  should  be  set  no  deeper  in  the  ground  than 
it  was  in  the  nursery.  When  the  hole  is  filled  the  earth  must  be 
pressed  down  with  the  hands  and  afterwards  with  the  foot.  To  be 
sure  that  the  plant  has  been  firmly  planted  it  is  smartly  pulled,  and  if 
it  offers  resistance  it  may  be  considered  well  planted.  Care  should 
be  taken  to  leave  no  hollow  spaces  around  the  roots,  as  the  water  would 
settle  in  them  and  would  rot  the  roots.  Beside  each  plant  a  stake  is 
to  be  set  to  support  it  and  to  prevent  its  being  pulled  up  when  the 
ground  is  being  weeded ;  if  the  plant  should  die  the  stake  will  mark 
the  place  where  the  plant  that  is  to  replace  it  is  to  be  set. 

Stakes  are  indispensable  in  Ceylon,  for  without  them  the  young 
plants  would  be  unable  to  resist  the  violence  of  the  winds.  The  stakes 
are  four  or  five  feet  in  length  and  last  two  years.  They  should  be 
driven  at  least  eighteen  inches  into  the  ground.  The  plant  is  fastened 
to  the  stake  with  a  cord  in  such  a  manner  as  that  the  bark  shall  not  be 
injured  by  the  friction  of  the  cord  against  it. 

6.    CULTIVATION    OF    COFFEE. 

The  various  operations  which  coffee  culture  requires  in  Soconusco 
will  be  first  considered,  a  description  of  the  manner  in  which  the  same 
operation  is  performed  in  Ceylon  being  appended  in  each  case.  Then 
the  operations  that  are  not  considered  necessary  here  but  are  customary 
in  Ceylon  will  be  described.  The  following  points,  then,  will  now  be 
considered : 

A. — Clearing  the  ground. 

B. — Replanting. 

C. — Pruning. 

D. — Cultivation  of  coffee  in  Ceylon. 

Each  of  these  operations  will  be  considered  separately. 

A.  Clearing  the  Ground. — Clearing  the  ground,  or  weeding,  consists 
in  destroying  the  weeds  and  other  vegetation  that  may  spring  up  in  the 
plantation,  in  order  that  the  coffee-trees  may  absorb  all  the  nutritive 
elements  of  the  soil. 

The  following  points  regarding  weeding  will  now  be  considered  : 

a. — Necessity  and  advantages  of  weeding. 

b. — Manner  of  weeding. 

c. — Number  of  weedings  to  be  made  during  the  year. 

d. — Weeding  in  Ceylon. 

Each  of  these  subjects  will  be  separately  considered. 

a.  Necessity  and  Advantages  of  Weeding. — The  transplanting  having 
been  done  in  May  and  June,  which  are  the  best  months  in  Soconusco 


324   Coffee  Culture  on  tbe  Soutbetn  Coast  of  Cbiapas. 

for  this  operation,  the  trees  will  have  the  advantage  of  the  whole  of  the 
rainy  season,  and  will  yield  their  first  crop  in  September  of  the  follow- 
ing year,  unless  the  plants  were  very  young  at  the  time  of  transplanting 
and  weeding  was  neglected.  The  time  occupied  in  the  cultivation  of 
the  coffee-trees,  then,  in  the  sense  in  which  the  word  is  used  here,  will 
be  from  sixteen  to  seventeen  months,  during  which  the  chief  work  will 
be  the  weeding. 

The  chief  labor  in  the  cultivation  of  coffee  will  be  the  frequent 
weeding  of  the  ground  for  the  purpose  of  destroying  all  the  vegetation 
that  may  spring  up  in  it.  The  secret  of  success  in  coffee  culture  con- 
sists in  allowing  no  other  vegetation  to  remain  in  the  ground  where 
coffee  is  planted. 

If  the  plantation  is  not  weeded,  the  weeds  will  choke  the  coffee 
plants;  and  if  the  weedings  are  not  performed  with  the  required  fre- 
quency, the  crops  will  be  very  scanty. 

b.  Manner  of  Weeding. — Thus  far  no  machine  or  implement  to 
facilitate  weeding  has  been  used  that  has  not  injured  the  plant.     In 
some  of  the  plantations  of  Guatemala  clutivators  or  ploughs  are  used 
for  weeding,  but  aside  from  the  fact  that  these  implements  can  be  used 
only  on  level  ground,  many  are  of  opinion  that  they  injure  the  tender 
roots  which  the  coffee  plant  sends  out  near  the  surface  of  the  ground, 
for  which  reason  these  implements  are  very  little  used.     Besides  which, 
three  or  four  years  after  transplanting,  the  branches  of  the  trees  will 
have  spread  so  much  that  it  would  be  impossible  for  the  mules  or  oxen 
drawing  the  plough  to  pass  under  them  without  injuring  them  greatly. 

For  the  reasons  above  mentioned  the  hoe  is  little  used  in  weeding, 
for,  in  addition  to  cutting  the  young  roots  of  the  coffee-tree,  it  loosens 
the  soil,  thus  exposing  it  to  be  washed  away  by  the  rains — a  very  serious 
objection  in  hilly  ground.  For  these  reasons,  as  a  general  rule,  only 
the  machete  is  used  in  weeding.  In  Ceylon  a  means  has  been  dis- 
covered of  preventing  the  rains  from  washing  the  earth  away  in  hilly 
ground,  as  will  be  seen  farther  on. 

c.  Number  of  Weedings  to  be  Made  during  the  Year. — In  the  first 
year  after  transplanting  the  ground  must  be  frequently  weeded,  for,  as 
from  their  diminutive  size,  the  plants  cast  scarcely  any  shade,   the 
ground  is  almost  completely  exposed  to  the  sun,  and  this  causes  it  to 
produce  abundantly  all  sorts  of  weeds.     As  the  plant  grows  it  casts 
more  and  more  shade,  and  the  greater  the  shade  the  smaller  the  area 
of  ground  exposed  to  the  fecundating  action  of  the  sun,  and  conse- 
quently, the  fewer  will  be  the  weeds. 

The  number  of  weedings  which  the  plantation  is  to  receive  during 
the  first  year  and  subsequent  years  will  depend  upon  various  circum- 
stances, such  as  the  altitude  of  the  ground,  its  temperature,  the  nature 
of  the  soil,  whether  it  has  been  virgin  soil  or  soil  that  had  been  already 


,  IReplanttna  an&  pruning.  325 

cultivated,  etc.,  and  in  each  case  will  be  determined  according  to  the 
particular  circumstances  of  the  place.  Generally,  four  weedings  a  year 
are  made,  although  in  some  localities  six,  and  even  more,  are  given. 
It  will  be  seen  at  once  that  this  is  the  most  costly  operation  on  the 
plantation. 

d.  Weeding  in  Ceylon. — In  Ceylon,  as  in  Soconusco,  weeding  the 
ground  constitutes  the  principal  expense  of  coffee  cultivation.  Mr.  Sab- 
onadiere  advises  weeding  the  plantations  once  a  month,  and  this 
advice  seems  to  me  very  judicious,  as  in  this  way  the  weeds  are  not 
given  time  to  grow  or  produce  seed.  The  cost  of  twelve  weedings  a 
year  would  thus  be  about  the  same  as  that  of  six,  because,  in  the 
former  case  there  being  fewer  weeds  and  the  work  of  uprooting  them 
being  less,  two  cords  might  be  given  to  each  laborer  as  a  task,  while 
in  the  latter  case  only  one  cord  could  be  given  him. 

There  is  the  objection,  however,  that  frequent  weeding  stirs  up  the 
soil  and  exposes  it  to  being  washed  away  by  the  rains.  This  difficulty 
might  to  a  certain  extent  be  obviated  if,  in  new  plantations,  where  there 
are  as  yet  few  weeds,  the  weeds  were  uprooted  with  a  sharp  stick  and 
thrown  into  a  bag  which  the  laborer  carried  with  him,  gathered  in  a 
heap,  and  burned  when  dry.  But  in  old  plantations  this  system  can- 
not be  followed ;  the  hoe  is  there  used,  and  the  earth  is  of  necessity 
turned  up. 

Sometimes  the  weeding  is  done  from  the  trunk  of  the  tree  out,  and 
a  sort  of  bank  or  ridge  is  thus  formed  between  the  furrows,  causing  the 
rain-water  to  run  near  the  trunks  of  the  trees  and  carry  away  the  earth 
from  their  roots.  To  avoid  this  inconvenience,  the  weeding  ought  to 
be  done  from  the  middle  of  the  furrows  towards  the  trees,  care  being 
taken  that  their  roots  remain  well  covered  with  earth. 

Weeding  is  generally  done  in  Ceylon  by  contract,  the  weeding  of 
each  acre  of  ground,  or  a  little  more  than  nine  cords,  costing  on  an 
average  thirty-six  shillings,  or  nine  dollars,  or  about  a  dollar  per  cord 
yearly.  Women  and  children  perform  the  weeding. 

B.  Replanting. — It  frequently  happens  that  some  of  the  trees,  from 
having  been  badly  transplanted,  or  for  some  other  reason,  either  die  or 
become  sickly.     If  many  plants  should  suffer  in  this  way,  the  cause 
should  be  ascertained  in  order  to  remedy  it.     The  best  means  of  doing 
this  is  to  dig  around  the  root  of  a  tree  to  see  if  the  tap  root  has  become 
bent,  if  it  has  come  in  contact  with  a  stone,  or  if  some  insect  be  not 
injuring  it. 

The  necessity  of  constantly  replacing  the  trees  which  die,  or  decline, 
makes  it  indispensable  to  have  always  on  the  estate  nurseries  from 
whence  plants  may  be  taken  to  replace  those  that  have  died  or  de- 
teriorated. 

C.  Pruning. — Pruning  having  an  important  bearing  on  the  success 


326   Coffee  Culture  on  tbe  Soutbern  Coast  of  Cbiapas, 

of  a  plantation,  the  following  points  connected  with  this  subject  will 
now  be  considered: 

a. — General  considerations  on  pruning. 

b. — Principles  of  pruning. 

c. — Advantages  of  pruning. 

d. — Topping. 

e. — Pruning. 

f. — Rules  for  pruning. 

g. — Manner  of  pruning. 

h. — Time  of  pruning. 

Each  of  these  points  will  be  considered  separately. 

a.  General  Considerations  on  Pruning. — At  first  sight  it  might  seem 
that  pruning  would  be  prejudicial  to  the  trees,  since  it  maybe  said  that 
this  operation  is  contrary  to  nature,  which  has  given  the  trees  their 
branches  and  their  appointed  size,  which  should  neither  be  reduced 
nor  diminished  by  artificial  means.     Experience  has  demonstrated, 
however,  that  it  is  better  to  prune  the  trees,  for  if  these  are  planted  in 
their  native  zone,  the  force  of  their  sap  is  so  great  that  if  it  be  not 
suitably  directed,  they  become  in  a  short  time  a  tangle  of  branches 
which  the  sun  cannot  penetrate,  and  thus  lose  their  fructifying  power. 

From  the  time  of  Laborie,  that  is,  for  about  eighty  years  past, 
pruning  has  been  employed,  and  with  very  good  success,  to  increase 
the  productiveness  of  trees.  According  to  this  writer,  pruning  consists 
in  cutting  from  plants  whatever  in  them  deviates  from  natural  symmetry, 
and  preserving  what  is  in  accordance  with  it,  directing  in  this  way  the 
vegetative  principle  to  purposes  of  order,  profit,  and  regeneration. 

It  is  a  well-known  fact  that  fruit-trees  are  greatly  improved  by 
pruning,  and  there  is  no  reason  why  the  system  applied  to  them  should 
not  produce  equally  satisfactory  results  as  applied  to  coffee  plants. 

The  rule  to  be  followed  with  regard  to  pruning  will  depend  on  each 
particular  locality,  upon  the  nature  of  the  soil,  the  temperature,  altitude 
above  the  level  of  the  sea,  exposure,  etc.,  but  the  principle  is  the 
same;  that  is,  to  remedy  the  deviations  of  the  tree  from  natural  laws 
caused  by  conditions  of  soil,  climate,  situation,  etc.,  and  to  make  it 
return  to  those  laws ;  art  in  this  way  aiding  nature.  Regarded  in  this 
way,  pruning  is  as  necessary  as  weeding. 

b.  Principles  of  Pruning. — For  a  better  understanding  of  the  ad- 
vantages to  be  obtained  by  pruning,  it  will  be  well  to  define  some  facts 
and  to  lay  down  some  rules  concerning  it. 

The  branches  growing  from  the  trunk  of  the  tree  are  called  primaries; 
those  that  grow  from  the  primaries  are  called  secondaries ;  those  that 
grow  from  the  secondaries,  tertiaries,  and  so  on  successively. 

Each  branch  of  the  tree  bears  fruit  only  once,  sending  out  in  the 
following  year  other  branches  which  in  their  turn  bear  fruit. 


Hfcx>anta0es  of  pruning  327 

Nature  has  so  placed  the  primary  branches  that  they  receive  an 
equal  amount  of  light.  Each  pair  of  branches  grows  in  a  direction, 
with  regard  to  the  branch  next  to  them,  which  deviates  a  few  degrees 
from  a  right  angle,  so  that  if  there  are  twenty  pairs  of  branches  no  two 
of  them  will  be  found  to  be  in  the  same  vertical  plane.  This  arrange- 
ment gives  each  primary  branch  a  sufficiently  large  space  for  its  de- 
velopment and  sufficient  amount  of  light.  But  when  the  vertical 
growth  of  the  plant  is  checked  by  pruning  this  space  becomes  reduced 
to  a  circle  of  not  more  than  three  feet  deep  and  about  six  feet  in 
diameter. 

As  each  branch  gives  but  one  crop,  there  would  soon  be  no  room 
for  new  branches  to  grow,  if  the  old  ones  were  not  removed,  for  the 
secondary  branches,  after  yielding  their  crop,  would  produce  tertiary 
branches,  these  quaternary  branches,  and  so  on,  successively,  until  the 
tree  would  be  converted  into  a  thicket  of  branches  and  unproductive 
foliage.  The  production  of  branches  which  give  fruit  takes  place  only 
when  there  is  room  for  them  to  grow  and  light  to  make  them  grow. 

In  pruning  there  are  two  distinct  operations,  tapping  and  pruning, 
properly  so  called.  The  former  consists  in  removing  from  the  plant 
the  upper  part  of  its  main  stem  or  leader;  and  the  second  in  cutting  off 
some  of  its  branches. 

The  upper  shoots  being  cut  off,  the  power  of  the  sap  before  long 
causes  two  or  three  supplementary  shoots  to  grow  beneath  the  highest 
branches,  and  renews  them  as  often  as  they  are  removed.  These 
shoots  being  prevented  from  growing,  as  care  must  be  taken  to  cut 
them  off  whenever  they  appear,  the  sap  flows  to  the  primary  branches 
and  makes  them  grow  about  three  feet  from  the  trunk.  When  the  sap 
ceases  to  nourish  the  primary  branches,  it  goes  to  nourish  the  second- 
ary branches,  and  in  the  management  of  these  consists  the  art  of 
pruning  and  the  success  of  the  plantation. 

The  only  permanent  parts  of  the  tree  are  the  trunk  and  the  primary 
branches.  The  trunk  should  grow  straight  and  thick,  and  the  primary 
branches  should  be  strong  and  straight,  and  should  grow  at  right 
angles  with  the  trunk.  If  a  primary  branch  should  die  or  grow  sickly 
it  cannot  be  replaced. 

c.  Advantages  of  Pruning. — The  advantages  of  pruning,  to  sum  up, 
are  the  following: 

1.  It  gives  the  tree  an  artificial  form  which  makes  it  suffer  less  in 
situations  in  which  it  is  exposed  to  the  winds. 

2.  It  makes  the  gathering  of  the  crop  easier  and  cheaper. 

3.  It  increases  the  yield  of  the  tree. 

4.  It  regularizes  the  crop. 

The  branches  which  are  exposed  to  the  sun  and  air  are  those  which 
bear  the  best  fruit.  Consequently,  the  more  closely  the  tree  is  pruned, 


328   Coffee  Culture  on  tbe  Soutbern  Coast  ot  Cbiapas. 

the  larger  the  crops  it  will  yield.  This  is  seen  better  in  the  new  trees, 
which  bear  more  fruit  in  their  second  and  third  crops,  because  they 
then  have  fewer  branches. 

Generally,  the  trees  give  a  bad  and  a  good  crop  alternately.  This 
evil  may  be  remedied  by  pruning,  as  will  be  seen  farther  on. 

Pruning  is  most  required  in  high  localities  which  are  exposed  to  the 
cold  winds. 

d.  Topping. — Topping  consists  in  cutting  off  the  top  of  the  trunk  or 
the  leader  of  the  plant. 

This  is  the  only  kind  of  pruning  practicable  in  Soconusco,  and  it  is 
done  arbitrarily  and  without  following  any  rule.  Farther  on  it  will  be 
seen  that  once  the  coffee  plant  has  been  thus  cut,  it  will  be  indispen- 
sable to  prune  it. 

When  the  trees  have  attained  their  ordinary  height,  that  is,  when 
they  are  about  six  feet  high,  their  leader,  or  central  branch,  which  is 
of  little  importance,  is  pruned,  and  also  all  the  shoots  that  spring  up 
near  the  roots.  This  stops  the  vertical  growth  of  the  plant,  causing 
the  branches  to  spread  horizontally,  sending  out  new  branches  which 
bear  fruit,  or  strengthening  the  branches  which  it  has  already  sent  out. 

Trees  not  thus  pruned  will  grow  as  high  as  ten  or  eleven  feet,  and 
I  have  sometimes  seen  them  as  much  as  twelve  feet  high;  but  cutting 
stops  the  vertical  growth  of  the  tree,  which  then  grows  horizontally  and 
through  its  branches. 

The  principal  reasons  in  favor  of  cutting  the  leader  are,  according 
to  Laborie,  the  following: 

1.  The  fruit  is  brought  by  it  within  easy  reach  of  the  hand;  it 
facilitates  the  gathering  of  the  crops  and  prevents  the  branches  from 
breaking  when  picking  the  fruit. 

2.  The  tree  acquires  greater  vigor  as  well  under  the  ground  as 
above  it,  and  the  trunk  grows  thicker. 

3.  The  tree  presents  a  smaller  volume  of  resistance  to  the  winds. 

4.  The  tree  loses  none  of  its  primary  branches,  but,  on  the  con- 
trary, these  being  nearer  the  source  of  vegetation,  are  better  nourished 
and  consequently  more  productive. 

If  the  plant  be  pruned  very  near  the  highest  primary  branches,  there 
is  danger  of  the  trunk  splitting  when  the  branches  grow  thick.  This 
danger  will  disappear  if  the  plant  be  pruned  a  little  above  the  highest 
primary  branches  and  these  be  removed. 

The  height  at  which  the  trees  are  to  be  left  will  depend  in  each 
case  upon  the  distance  apart  at  which  they  are  planted,  the  nature  of 
the  ground,  its  altitude  above  the  level  of  the  sea,  exposure,  etc. 

In  Guatemala  and  Soconusco  they  are  pruned  to  a  height  of  six  or 
eight  feet. 

In  Ceylon  plants  are  pruned  to  a  height  of  two,  three,  three  and  a 


IRules  for  pruning.  329 

half,  or  at  most  four  feet.  Trees  of  more  than  four  feet  would  not 
there  be  able  to  bear  the  violence  of  the  wind.  If  the  trunk  is  not 
topped  they  grow,  in  situations  sheltered  from  the  wind,  to  a  height  of 
ten  or  twelve  feet. 

e.  Pruning. — The  only  kind  of  pruning  that  I  have  seen  done  in 
Soconusco  is  to  cut  all  the  shoots  or  branches  which  grow  from  the 
root  of  the  tree,  three  months  after  transplanting,  which  operation  is 
constantly  repeated. 

Cutting  off  the  top  of  the  tree  causes  the  sap  to  produce  numerous 
shoots  which  spring  up  in  every  direction.  If  these  are  allowed  to 
grow,  the  tree  will  soon  become  a  mass  of  tangled  branches  which  the 
sun  cannot  penetrate,  and  will  consequently  have  little  capability  of 
yielding  fruit.  The  sap  would  produce  numerous  branches  instead  of 
being  converted  into  fruit.  Pruning  is  advantageous  in  every  case, 
but  it  is  still  more  so  after  the  top  of  the  tree  has  been  cut  off. 

So  many  improvements  have  been  made  in  pruning  that  there  is 
now  a  complete  system  of  pruning  coffee-trees,  which  is,  however,  un- 
fortunately unknown  here.  The  best  way  of  explaining  this  system  is 
to  give  the  rules  which  constitute  it. 

The  difficulty  of  pruning  lies  in  performing  it  so  that  the  fruit  will 
increase  without  exhausting  the  tree.  It  is  the  custom  here  to  cure 
with  clay  the  wounds  caused  by  pruning. 

/.  Rules  for  Pruning. — The  practical  part  of  pruning  is  comprised 
in  the  rules  which  serve  as  a  general  guide  for  this  operation.  With 
the  object  of  setting  down  all  that  I  have  found  of  value  on  this  sub- 
ject, I  insert  here,  even  at  the  risk  of  falling  into  repetitions,  a  resume 
of  the  rules  given  by  Laborie,  Sabonadiere,  and  a  practical  planter  of 
Ceylon,  and  those  published  in  the  Observer  of  Colombo,  the  principal 
port  of  that  island. 

System  of  Laborie. — Laborie  gives  the  following  rules  for  pruning 
trees  planted  in  good  soil,  in  a  hot  climate,  and  which  have  been 
pruned  before: 

1.  Every  branch  that  looks  sickly,  that  is  broken,  that  has  suffered 
any  lesion,  or  that  seems  exhausted  through  over-production,  is  to  be 
cut  off. 

2.  Every  branch  that  is  decayed,  withered,  dry,  or  split,  must  also 
be  cut  off,  following  the  principle  of  regeneration. 

3.  All  vertical  branches,  branches  that  cross  each  other,  or  that 
do  not  grow  in  their  natural  direction,  and  all  supernumerary  branches 
which  absorb  the  sap  of  the  plant  without  producing  fruit,  are  to  be 
taken  off,  or,  if  very  thick,  sawed  off. 

4.  The  top  and  the  middle  part  of  the  tree  are  to  be  pruned  so 
as  to  give  free  access  to  the  air  and  sun. 

5.  If,  in  spite  of  this,  the  tree  should  still  be  full  of  branches, 


330   Coffee  Culture  on  tbe  Soutbern  Coast  ot  Cbiapas, 

some  of  the  secondary  branches  are  to  be  cut  off,  choosing  those  that 
grow  out  of  the  natural  direction,  care  being  taken  not  to  touch  the 
primary  branches. 

This  last  rule  should  be  followed,  according  to  Laborie,  only  with 
trees  in  high  lands  and  exposed  to  cold  winds,  these  being  generally 
full  of  branches  and  leaves.  The  twigs  at  the  top,  which  run  in  every 
direction,  are  first  to  be  taken  off,  then  such  of  the  larger  branches  as 
are  crooked  are  cut  off;  and,  finally,  if  the  top  or  leader  should  be 
decayed,  this  decayed  part  is  to  be  cut  off. 

All  the  primary  branches  that  have  kept  their  natural  direction  are 
to  be  left,  for  the  reason  mentioned  above,  that,  once  cut,  they  do  not 
grow  again.  If  they  should  be  split  or  injured  in  any  way,  however, 
it  would  be  better  to  cut  them  off.  The  same  thing  is  to  be  done 
when  they  have  taken  a  wrong  direction,  only  the  part  being  then  cut 
that  deviates  from  the  natural  direction. 

In  very  cold  localities,  or  when  the  trees  produce  very  little  fruit, 
because  of  their  having  too  many  branches,  all  the  secondary  branches 
are  to  be  cut  off,  with  the  object  of  making  new  ones  grow  which  shall 
bear  fruit,  and  of  giving  a  right  direction  to  the  sap. 

When  the  primary  branches  have  grown  so  long  that  they  become 
interlaced  with  those  of  the  neighboring  trees,  enough  of  them  is  to  be 
cut  off  to  prevent  the  branches  from  meeting. 

After  the  tree  has  been  pruned,  any  moss  or  parasites  growing  on 
its  trunk  are  to  be  removed,  using  a  wooden  knife  for  the  purpose. 

System  of  Sabonadttre. — The  vertical  shoots  that  first  spring  from 
the  trunk  of  the  tree  should  be  taken  off  as  they  appear,  without  in- 
juring the  bark  of  the  tree.  Afterwards  other  shoots,  as  many  as  four 
in  each  bud,  grow  on  the  primary  branches,  in  different  directions.  It 
will  be  advisable  to  remove  these  also,  excepting  one  only  in  each 
branch,  preferring  that  which  is  most  vigorous  and  has  the  best  direc- 
tion. This  operation  is  to  be  repeated  every  year,  and  will  render 
pruning,  properly  speaking,  or  the  removal  of  thick  branches  already 
formed  which  have  some  defects,  unnecessary. 

No  secondary  branch  is  to  be  left  within  six  inches  of  the  trunk,  so 
that  a  vacant  space,  in  the  shape  of  a  circle  a  foot  in  diameter,  may  be  left 
around  the  trunk  of  the  tree,  in  order  that  air  and  sunlight  may  circulate 
around  it  freely  and  prevent  the  growth  on  it  of  moss  and  parasites. 

If  the  plantations  are  small  the  best  system  of  pruning  is  to  allow 
alternate  secondary  branches  to  fructify  each  year;  that  is,  to  cut 
those  that  have  borne  fruit  one  year,  and  leave  those  that  have  not 
borne  fruit:  but  in  large  plantations  it  is  difficult  to  follow  this  system, 
and  in  them  the  following  rules  should  be  observed: 

i.  To  pull  up  all  the  shoots  that  are  within  a  distance  of  six. 
inches  of  the  trunk  of  the  tree. 


Different  Systems  of  pruning*  331 

2.  To  remove  all  the  branches  and  shoots  that  grow  toward  the 
tree,  or  toward  the  other  branches. 

3.  To   reduce   the  number  of  shoots,  leaving  only  one  to  each 
bud. 

When  the  coffee-tree  has  not  been  pruned  for  some  time,  Mr. 
Sabonadiere  recommends  that  the  primary  branches  nearest  the  ground 
be  cut  off,  supporting  his  advice  with  these  reasons: 

1.  They  cause  much  humidity  and  shade,  and  prevent  the  free 
circulation  of  the  air. 

2.  They  rarely  bear  fruit,  because  of  their  superabundant  leafage, 
and  draw  the  nutritive  sap  from  the  tree  unprofitably. 

3.  They  interefere  with  the  labors  of  cultivation,  owing  to  their 
nearness  to  the  ground,  and  they  are  injured  by  the  laborers. 

4.  They  cover  the  weeds  and  young  coffee  plants  and  serve  as  a 
hotbed  for  them. 

No  branch  should  be  allowed  to  bear  more  than  two,  or  at  most 
three  crops ;  when  it  has  given  these  it  should  be  removed,  so  that  a 
new  one  may  replace  it  which  will  bear  fruit. 

System  of  a  Practical  Cultivator  of  Ceylon. — This  writer  recommends 
that  all  the  branches  that  are  less  than  six  inches  from  the  trunk  be 
cut  off;  that  a  vacant  space  of  a  foot  in  circumference  be  left  around 
the  trunk  of  the  plant  to  permit  a  free  circulation  of  light  and  air;  and 
that  one  of  every  two  secondary  branches  growing  together  be  pruned, 
one  on  each  side  alternately  of  the  primaries  being  left. 

All  the  secondary  branches  that  grow  very  near  the  trunk  tend  to 
debilitate  the  primaries,  and  the  same  is  the  case  when  they  are  allowed 
to  grow  in  pairs. 

Some  set  the  rule  that  a  primary  branch  should  never  be  pruned ; 
but  this  rule  has  its  exceptions,  as,  for  instance,  when  the  branch  splits 
or  dies,  or  when  it  grows  to  such  a  length  as  to  become  intertwined 
with  those  of  the  neighboring  trees.  In  this  last  case  a  part  only  of  the 
branch  should  be  pruned. 

Some  think  also  that  when  the  primaries  near  the  ground  have 
grown  to  a  great  length  and  have  become  tangled  they  should  be  cut 
off  up  to  the  first  good  secondary  branch,  in  order  that  this  may  re- 
ceive all  the  sap  that  would  otherwise  go  to  nourish  the  branches  that 
have  been  pruned. 

System  of  the  "Observer"  of  Colombo. — The  natural  consequences 
of  the  rules  set  forth,  when  speaking  of  the  principles  of  pruning,  which 
are  in  accordance  with  a  notable  article  published  in  the  Observer  of 
Colombo,  for  June  17,  1861,  are  the  following: 

Being  two  different  systems,  they  have  some  points  in  common. 

All  the  secondary  branches  which  are  at  a  distance  of  less  than 
nine  or, ten  inches  from  the  trunk  of  the  tree,  are  to  be  removed.  This 


332   Coffee  Culture  on  tbe  Soutbern  Coast  of  Cbfapas. 

will  give  the  light  access  to  the  plant  and  will  give  the  branches  more 
room  to  grow. 

Double  or  triple  shoots  shall  be  reduced  to  one,  choosing  that  which 
grows  at  a  right  angle  with  the  primary  branch,  and  which  lies  in  the 
same  horizontal  plane ;  the  number  of  secondary  branches  on  each  side 
of  the  primaries  will  then  be  equalized,  and,  finally,  the  same  number 
of  secondaries  will  be  left  on  each  primary. 

In  deciding  upon  the  number  of  secondary  branches  to  be  left  on 
the  tree,  it  must  be  borne  in  mind  that  if  they  be  many  the  plant  will 
become  exhausted,  and  in  the  following  year  will  produce  fewer 
branches  and  less  fruit.  A  number  must  be  fixed  upon,  then,  which, 
without  exhausting  the  plant  will  cause  it  to  yield  good  crops,  and  in 
this  way  the  crops  will  be  uniform,  not  as  in  plantations  that  are  not 
pruned,  which  yield  a  fair  crop  one  season  and  a  bad  one  the  next. 

When  the  crop  is  gathered,  all  the  secondary  branches  which  have 
fructified  to  the  extent  of  producing  tertiary  branches  are  to  be  cut  off. 
Some  advise  that  when  there  are  enough  branches  to  allow  of  it,  all  the 
secondaries  that  have  produced  fruit  be  cut  off. 

After  the  trees  have  been  thus  pruned,  they  send  forth  new  shoots, 
which  must  also  be  pruned,  as  has  been  already  indicated,  as  soon  as 
they  show  the  direction  in  which  they  are  growing.  If  this  pruning  be 
deferred,  it  will  be  more  difficult  to  perform,  and  the  tree  will  be 
greatly  injured  by  it,  as  it  will  then  be  deprived  of  its  leaves  when  it 
most  needs  them. 

The  secondary  branches  must  be  cut  off  at  their  root,  so  that  no 
part  may  be  left  that  might  send  forth  shoots  in  a  direction  other  than 
the  natural  one,  or  cause  the  plant  to  sicken. 

The  number  of  branches  to  be  left  will  depend  upon  the  soil, 
climate,  situation,  etc. 

When  this  system  has  been  once  established,  it  will  be  very  easy  to 
follow  it,  for  the  same  thing  that  is  done  one  year  is  repeated  the  suc- 
ceeding years. 

g.  Manner  of  Pruning. — Laborie  gives  the  following  rules  for  the 
practical  part  of  pruning: 

1.  To  cut  the  trunk  of  a  tree  or  any  of  its  thick  branches,  a  very 
sharp  saw  is  to  be  used  which  can  be  managed  with  one  hand,  the 
trunk  being  firmly  held  with  the  other,  to  keep  the  tree  from  moving 
and  to  facilitate  the  work  of  sawing.     The  trunk  must  be  cut  obliquely 
from  above  downward,  and  the  cut  surface  should  face  the  north ;  the  sun 
thus  falls  on  it  with  less  force  and  the  rain  will  run  off  more  easily,  for, 
if  the  water  should  penetrate  the  wood,  it  would  injure  the  tree  greatly. 

2.  The  large  branches  which  cannot  be  easily  pruned  with  a  knife 
are  to  be  sawed  off  in  the  manner  above  indicated.     But  the  saw  is  to 
be  used  in  no  case  in  which  a  knife  can  be  employed. 


ZTime  for  pruning  333 

3.  As  the  saw  injures  the  bark  around  the  cut  surface,  both  the 
bark  and  the  trunk  of  the  tree  should  be  trimmed  off  with  the  knife. 
When  this  is  done,  the  wound  heals  more  quickly  and  the  bark  grows 
better. 

4.  When  the  branches  are  pruned  with  the  knife,  the  branch  is  to 
be  held  firmly  with  one  hand,  and  with  the  other  a  sharp,  quick  blow 
is  to  be  given  it  with  the  knife,  from  above  downward.     If  the  branch 
should  not  be  severed  at  the  first  blow,  this  is  to  be  repeated,  bending 
the  branch  a  little,  but  not  so  as  to  split  it.     If  it  should  split,  all  the 
split  part  must  be  cut  off. 

5.  The  branch  should  always  be  cut  close  to  its  root. 

6.  When  a  secondary  branch  is  pruned,  this  must  be  done  very 
near  its  root,  especially  when  it  grows  under  another  that  has  been 
already  cut  off. 

7.  To  prevent  many  young  shoots  from  growing  in  the  place  where 
a  branch  has  been  cut  off,  a  piece  of  the  bark  is  to  be  cut  out  at  the 
top  of  the  incision. 

h.  Time  of  Pruning. — Some  planters  prune  the  coffee-tree  when  it 
is  two  years  old,  or  before  it  has  borne  fruit.  It  seems  preferable, 
however,  to  prune  it  after  it  has  reached  maturity,  that  is,  after  it  has 
given  its  first  crop,  for  in  this  way  it  is  not  forced  to  produce  a  large 
crop,  which  would  exhaust  it. 

Tapping  should  be  done  after  the  season  of  blossoming  is  over;  for 
if  it  were  done  while  the  plant  is  in  blossom  the  sap  would  go  to  pro- 
duce blossoms  and  fruit,  instead  of  strengthening  and  increasing  the 
branches. 

Pruning  should  begin  immediately  after  the  gathering  of  the  crop 
and  should  be  finished  before  the  plant  has  begun  to  blossom. 

Pruning  is  so  essential  to  the  success  of  a  plantation  that  it  should 
be  suspended  only  for  the  four  or  five  days  during  which  the  plant  is 
flowering.  It  should  then  be  performed  with  great  care,  so  as  not  to 
destroy  the  flower,  which  contains  the  germ  of  the  fruit;  but  it  should 
not  be  altogether  stopped. 

After  the  flowering  is  over,  the  branches  that  have  many  blossoms 
should  be  left,  and  those  that  are  exhausted  and  have  few  should  be 
cut  off. 

The  months  of  March,  April,  and  May  are  the  best  months  for 
pruning  in  Soconusco. 

D.  Cultivation  of  Coffee  in  Ceylon. — Coffee  culture  in  Ceylon  is  much 
more  complicated  and  costly  than  it  is  in  Soconusco,  as,  in  addition  to 
the  operations  already  described,  with  the  modifications  indicated  when 
speaking  of  each  of  them,  it  is  necessary  to  perform  others  also  which 
are  not  customary  in  Soconusco,  and  the  necessity  for  which  has  not 
yet  beon  felt.  These  labors  are  the  following: 


334   Coffee  Culture  on  tbe  Soutbern  Coast  of  Cbfapas. 

a. — Making  roads. 

b. — Drainage. 

c. — Making  trenches. 

d. — Loosening  the  earth. 

e. — Making  ridges. 

f. — Irrigating. 

g. — Destroying  the  insects  which  are  enemies  of  the  coffee-tree. 

h. — Manuring  the  ground. 

Each  of  these  labors  will  be  considered  separately,  that  of  manur- 
ing, which  from  its  importance  is  deserving  of  special  attention,  being 
considered  in  a  chapter  by  itself. 

a.  Making  Roads. — It  is  desirable  that  the  estate  be  traversed  by 
cart  roads,  which  shall  place  its  different  quarters  in  communication 
with  the  house  in  which  the  work  of  preparing  the  coffee  for  the  market 
is  performed.  The  transportation  of  the  fruit,  and  of  the  fertilizers, 
when  these  are  used,  will  be  thus  facilitated  and  rendered  cheaper. 
The  roads  should  not  have  a  grade  of  more  than  ten  per  cent.  The 
roads  should  be  opened  before  the  plantation  is  made,  for,  if  they 
should  be  opened  afterwards,  many  of  the  trees  already  planted  and 
bearing  fruit  would  have  to  be  destroyed,  and  many  of  the  neighboring 
plants  would  be  injured  by  the  work  consequent  on  the  opening  of  the 
road. 

It  is  highly  important  that  there  should  be  easy  means  of  communi- 
cation between  the  various  parts  of  the  estate,  so  that  the  laborers  may 
be  able  to  get  to  their  work  without  difficulty,  and  also  that  the  super- 
intendent or  overseer  may  be  able  to  go  readily  to  the  place  where  the 
workmen  are  employed,  for  if  these  know  that  they  are  not  watched 
they  will  not  be  likely  to  work  diligently. 

It  is  an  established  fact  that  the  trees  near  the  roads  are  more 
vigorous  and  produce  more  fruit  than  those  at  some  distance  from 
them.  The  cause  of  this  may  be  that  the  soil  near  the  roads  is  looser 
than  that  of  the  rest  of  the  plantation,  and  is  renewed  by  means  of  the 
rains  for  which  the  roads  form  channels.  This  is  another  reason, 
therefore,  which  renders  it  advisable  that  there  should  be  roads  and 
paths  in  a  plantation. 

Mr.  Sabonadiere  recommends  that  a  road  be  made  around  the  plan- 
tation with  the  object,  among  others,  of  separating  it  from  the  con- 
tiguous woods. 

Although  it  may  seem  paradoxical  to  say  so,  it  is  really  a  saving  to 
go  to  the  expense  of  opening  roads,  for  they  lessen  considerably  the 
labor  of  cultivation. 

The  roads  and  paths  should  also  be  made  to  serve  as  channels  to 
carry  off  the  rains. 

The  ground  in  which  coffee  is  planted  in  Ceylon  is  so  hilly  that  fre- 


Coffee  Culture  in  Ceslon,  335 

quently  the  roads  can  be  made  only  in  terraces.  Mr.  Sabonadiere 
estimates  the  cost  of  making  a  path  five  feet  wide,  with  a  channel  a 
foot  wide,  at  ^25  sterling,  or  $125  per  mile,  and  that  of  a  cart  road, 
ten  feet  wide,  with  a  channel  eighteen  inches  wide,  at  $500  per  mile. 

b.  Drainage. — It  is  advisable,  in  order  to  prevent  the  rains  from 
^washing  away  the  richest  soil  of  the  plantation,  to  construct  drains 
when  making  the  roads,   although  this  will  require  more  capital  and 
labor.     The  drains  should  be  made  before  the  plantation  is  laid  out, 
for  the  reasons  mentioned  when  speaking  of  roads. 

Before  enriching  the  soil  with  fertilizers  means  should  be  taken  to 
preserve  it — that  is,  to  prevent  the  rains  from  washing  away  the  richest 
part  of  it,  and  this  is  done  by  means  of  drains. 

In  Ceylon,  and  other  places  where  coffee  cultivation  is  most  ad- 
vanced, care  is  always  taken  to  construct  drains.  Mr.  Sabonadiere 
recommends  that  these  be  fifteen  inches  in  width  and  the  same  in 
depth;  that  they  be  distant  from  each  other  the  space  occupied  by 
twenty  trees,  or  about  one  hundred  and  twenty-  feet ;  that  their  grade 
be  not  more  than  one  per  cent.,  or  even  less,  and  that  they  run  in  the 
direction  of  the  nearest  ravine.  Care  should  be  taken  to  keep  the 
drains  always  free  from  obstructions. 

Mr.  Sabonadiere  mentions  an  estate  in  Ceylon  called  Matelle,  in 
which  all  the  drains  empty  into  a  pit  excavated  in  the  lowest  part  of 
the  ground,  in  which  the  soil  washed  away  by  the  rains  is  deposited 
and  afterwards  carried  to  the  plantation  and  scattered  around  the 
trunks  of  the  trees. 

c.  Making  Trenches. — In  the  estates  of  Ceylon  where  coffee  culture 
is  most  advanced,  a  system  is  adopted  which  is  entirely  unknown  in 
Soconusco,  and  which  is  at  present  considered  unnecessary,  but  which 
I  think  it  advisable  to  mention,  as  it  might  be  adopted  in  some  parts 
of  Mexico  with  advantage. 

It  has  for  its  object:  ist.  To  prevent  the  rains  from  washing  away 
the  soil.  2d.  To  prevent  the  water  from  standing  around  the  roots  of 
the  trees.  3d.  To  augment  the  vegetable  soil,  which  would  be  bene- 
ficial to  the  trees.  The  plan  in  question  consists  in  making  an  excava- 
tion about  three  feet  in  length,  a  foot  or  a  foot  and  a  half  in  width, 
and  the  same  in  depth,  between  every  four  trees.  The  earth  which  is 
taken  from  these  excavations  is  spread  over  the  roots  of  the  nearest  trees. 

These  excavations  serve  not  only  to  retain  the  rain-water  and  the 
soil  which  it  carries  with  it,  but  also  to  receive  the  weeds  cut  down  in 
weeding,  the  branches,  twigs,  and  leaves  that  remain  after  pruning, 
and  anything  else  at  hand  that  will  serve  for  manure.  These  excava- 
tions, therefore,  will  soon  be  filled;  they  should  be  cleaned  twice  a 
year,  and  the  substances  taken  from  them  spread  over  the  roots  of  the 
trees,  making  an  excellent  manure. 


336   Coffee  Culture  on  tbe  Soutbern  Coast  of  Cbiapas, 

These  excavations  must  be  dug  at  right  angles  with  the  slope,  so 
that  they  do  not  run  down  the  slope  but  cross  it  horizontally.  Mr. 
Sabonadiere  estimates  the  cost  of  these  excavations,  in  ground  that  is 
not  stony,  at  about  $5.62^  per  acre,  or  61  cents  per  cord. 

There  is  another  system  of  making  these  trenches  which  is  more 
costly.  It  consists  in  digging  a  trench  two  feet  wide  and  two  feet  deep, 
the  whole  length  of  the  furrows,  the  bottom  of  the  trench  being  made  as 
level  as  possible.  This  trench  is  filled  with  grass,  dry  leaves,  branches 
of  trees,  or  any  other  vegetable  substance  that  may  be  at  hand ;  it  is 
then  filled  in  with  earth  which  is  pressed  down  compactly.  The  result 
is  that  the  roots  of  the  trees  spread  out  to  the  trench  and  penetrate  the 
vegetable  matter  in  it  which  is  becoming  converted  into  soil. 

d.  Loosening  the  Earth. — In  places  where  the  earth  is  very  compact, 
and  fertilizers  are  used,  the  ground  is  dug  up  in  order  that  the  roots  of 
the  trees  may  be  able  to  reach  out  more  easily  in  search  of  the  manure. 
It  has  been  observed  in  some  places  that  manuring  does  not  produce 
results  as  favorable  to  the  coffee-tree  as  digging  up  the  ground.     This 
latter  should  be  done,  however,  only  in  ground  that  has  been  manured 
and  that  is  provided  with  drains,  for  otherwise  the  loosened  soil  would 
be  easily  washed  away  by  the  rains. 

The  cost  of  loosening  the  earth,  according  to  this  system,  is  in 
Ceylon  $5  per  acre,  or  a  little  more  than  54  cents  per  cord. 

There  is  another  method  of  loosening  the  earth,  which  consists  in 
moving  it  about  gently  in  every  direction  with  a  species  of  iron  pitch- 
fork. In  this  case  care  must  be  taken  not  to  turn  up  the  soil,  other- 
wise the  rains  would  wash  it  away. 

Loosening  the  earth  contributes  also  to  prevent  the  soil  from  being 
washed  away,  for,  being  loose,  it  readily  absorbs  the  rain. 

e.  Making  Ridges. — With  the  object  also  of  preventing  the  rains 
from  carrying  away  the  richest  part  of  the  soil,  ridges  are  formed  in 
some  of  the  estates  in  Ceylon,  with  the  earth  dug  out  of  the  trenches, 
which,  directing  the  course  of  the  rain-water,  cause  it  to  carry  the  earth 
which  it  washes  out  into  the  trenches. 

This  system  has  been  used  with  success  on  several  estates. 

/.  Irrigating. — In  localities  where  the  rains  are  not  abundant,  or 
where  the  ground  does  not  retain  sufficient  moisture  for  the  nutrition 
of  the  coffee-tree  during  the  dry  season,  it  is  indispensable  to  establish 
a  system  of  irrigation  which,  applied  opportunely  and  with  moderation, 
will  make  the  tree  thrive  and  will  keep  it  in  better  condition  than  when 
it  depends  entirely  on  the  rains. 

g.  Enemies  of  the  Coffee-  Tree. — The  coffee-tree  has  in  Ceylon  many 
enemies  which  frequently  destroy  it,  and  which  it  is  necessary  to  make 
war  upon  at  a  considerable  expense  of  time  and  money.  The  chief  of 
these  are  the  following: 


^fertilisers,  337 

Grubs.  When  the  tree  is  young  it  is  attacked  by  a  large  grub  which 
eats  away  the  bark  near  the  root,  and  thus  kills  the  plant.  This  insect 
abounds  in  low  ground.  To  protect  the  plant  from  its  ravages  it  is  rec- 
ommended to  apply  turpentine  to  the  stem. 

Rats.  When  the  trees  are  young  they  are  attacked  also,  at  certain 
seasons,  by  rats,  which  devour  the  primary  branches  of  the  young  plants. 

Coffee-bug.  This  insect,  of  which  there  are  two  varieties,  the  one 
white,  the  other  black,  is  the  most  destructive  of  all  the  enemies  of  the 
coffee-tree.  The  white  variety  appears  immediately  after  the  flowering 
of  the  plant,  during  the  heats  of  February,  March,  and  April.  It  at- 
taches itself  to  the  branch,  beside  the  fruit,  and  spreads  around  it  a 
white  glutinous  substance  which  rots  the  stalk  of  the  fruit  and  causes 
it  to  drop  from  the  tree.  The  black  bug  attacks  the  leaves,  fruit,  and 
branches  of  the  tree,  and  is  covered  with  a  sort  of  small  thin  shell,  like 
a  limpet  in  shape.  This  insect  covers  the  leaves  with  a  species  of 
black  filmy  substance,  and  has  the  effect  of  diminishing  very  consider- 
ably the  productiveness  of  the  tree.  The  black  bug  attacks  rather  the 
plantations  situated  in  the  high  lands  than  those  which  are  in  low 
ground.  The  time  during  which  this  insect  infests  the  trees  varies, 
but  it  generally  remains  for  three  years. 

The  most  efficacious  remedy  for  this  plague  is  to  manure  the  ground 
well,  in  order  that  the  trees  may  be  able  to  resist  its  ravages.  Turpen- 
tine is  also  used,  although  not  with  as  good  results.  The  turpentine  is 
sprinkled  on  the  ground  around  the  trunk  of  the  tree,  and  the  soil  is 
then  turned  up,  so  that  the  turpentine  may  penetrate  to  the  roots. 

Ants.  In  low  and  dry  localities,  ants  make  their  nests  in  the 
coffee-tree  and  greatly  annoy  the  laborers,  as  their  sting  is  very  painful. 
The  red  ants  are  the  worst. 

In  Soconusco  and  in  Guatemala  there  is  an  ant,  called  with  us 
zompopo,  which  loosens  the  soil  greatly,  and  which  is  considered 
extremely  injurious  to  the  plantation  in  which  it  establishes  itself.  To 
exterminate  these  ants  it  is  necessary  to  dig  down  until  their  nests  are 
reached  and  then  pour  boiling  water  over  them. 

Fortunately,  thus  far  none  of  the  other  plagues  of  Ceylon  are  known 
in  Soconusco. 

7.    FERTILIZERS. 

As  fertilizers  are  hardly  ever  used  in  Soconusco,  I  shall  have  to  make 
use  of  the  terms  and  the  rules  employed  in  Ceylon,  and  used  by  Mr. 
Sabonadiere  in  his  Coffee  Planter,  when  treating  of  them. 

The  following  points,  then,  regarding  fertilizers,  will  now  be  con- 
sidered: 

A. — Necessity  for  and  advantages  of  fertilizers. 

B. — Fertilizers  used  in  Soconusco. 

C. — Fertilizers  used  in  Ceylon. 


338   Coffee  Culture  on  tbe  Soutbern  Coast  ot  Cbiapas. 

Each  of  these  points  will  be  considered  separately. 

A.  Necessity  for  and  Advantages  of  Fertilizers. — As  I  have  already 
stated,  fertilizers  are  not  used  either  in  Guatemala  or  in  Soconusco, 
with  the  exceptions  that  I  will  presently  state,  nor  has  the  necessity  for 
using  them  yet  been  felt.      But,  as  it  is  plain  that,  no  matter  how  rich 
may  be  the  soil,  its  nutritive  properties  will  at  last  be  exhausted  if  they 
are  constantly  drawn  from  it  by  the  trees  without  being  replaced  in 
any  way,  it  will  be  well  to  give  some  attention  to  this  important  branch 
of  coffee  culture.     Besides,  in  other  localities  which  are  not  so  fertile 
as  Soconusco,  there  may  be  greater  need  for  fertilizers,  and  there  they 
should  be  used  from  the  time  the  plantation  is  laid  out. 

Without  fertilizers  a  plantation  might  continue  productive  for  ten 
years,  let  us  say.  With  fertilizers,  it  may  be  made  to  last  fifty  or  a 
hundred  years  in  good  condition,  and  the  cost  of  fertilizers  would  in 
any  case  be  much  less  than  that  of  forming  a  new  plantation. 

The  result  of  manuring,  according  to  Mr.  Sabonadiere,  is  an  in- 
crease in  the  production  of  each  acre  of  from  three  to  five  English 
quintals  in  every  crop,  or,  which  is  the  same  thing,  of  from  36  to  60 
pounds  per  cord. 

When  fertilizers  are  used  it  is  indispensable  that  the  ground  should 
have  a  complete  system  of  draining. 

B.  Fertilizers  Used  in  Soconusco. — The  only  way  in  which  I  have 
seen  fertilizers  used  in  Guatemala  and  Soconusco  is  to  spread  the  waste 
matter  of  the  sugar-cane  around  the  trunk  of  the  coffee-trees.     The 
cane  soon  rots  and  forms  a  good  fertilizer.     It  also  contributes  to  pre- 
vent the  rains  from  washing  away  the  earth.     As  sugar-cane  is  generally 
cultivated  in  estates  where  coffee  is  grown,  this  fertilizer  is  cheap  and 
easy  of  application. 

The  same  use  might  be  made  of  the  pulp  and  the  skins  of  the  fruit 
of  the  coffee-tree,  of  which  there  is  so  great  a  quantity,  instead  of 
allowing  it  to  go  to  waste  as  it  now  does  in  every  plantation  in  Guate- 
mala and  Soconusco.  Only  common  sense  is  needed,  without  any 
knowledge  of  chemistry,  to  know  that  in  order  to  keep  the  ground  from 
becoming  impoverished  it  is  necessary  to  restore  to  the  soil  the  elements 
that  have  been  taken  from  it.  But  I  am  sorry  to  say  that  I  have  never 
seen  this  fertilizer,  which  is  at  once  excellent  and  cheap,  used  on  any 
estate. 

C.  Fertilizers  Used  in  Ceylon. — With  regard  to  the  system  of  manur- 
ing adopted  in  Ceylon  the  following  points  will  now  be  considered: 

a. — Substances  which  are  used  as  manures. 

b. — Manner  of  applying  fertilizers  to  the  soil. 

c. — Period  at  which  fertilizers  should  be  used. 

d. — Cost  of  fertilizers. 

Each  of  these  subjects  will  be  considered  separately. 


different  Substances  TUsefc  as  jfertilisers.        339 

a.  Substances  which  are  Used  as  Manure. — Various  substances  are 
used  in  Ceylon  as  manure.  I  will  mention  here  only  those  that  are 
generally  known  and  easy  to  obtain,  omitting  such  as  are  little  known 
and  difficult  to  procure,  like  poonac  and  sombreorum. 

The  fertilizers  are  these: 

Cattle-dung,  bones,  super-phosphates,  coffee-pulp,  prunings,  grass, 
salts,  wood-ashes,  burnt  clay,  lime,  guano,  and  mixtures  of  these  sub- 
stances. 

Cattle-dung.  Cattle-dung  is  the  best  manure  known  for  the  coffee- 
tree.  It  may  be  used  alone,  or  mixed  with  other  fertilizers,  as  will  be 
shown  farther  on. 

Bones.  It  is  well  known  that  bones  contain  a  large  amount  of  phos- 
phate of  lime,  and  for  this  reason  they  make  a  good  fertilizer  for  the 
coffee-tree,  inferior  only  to  cattle-dung.  The  principal  effect  of  this 
fertilizer  is  to  increase  the  productiveness  of  the  tree.  The  bones  can 
be  used  conveniently  only  in  the  form  of  powder,  as  in  any  other  form 
they  would  dissolve  very  slowly  and  their  effect  would  be  proportion- 
ately slow.  In  Ceylon  they  are  always  used  in  the  form  of  powder, 
this  being  imported  from  Australia. 

Super-phosphates.  Super-phosphates  are  now  being  largely  used  as 
fertilizers,  and  with  good  results,  especially  super-phosphate  of  lime. 
Half  a  pound  is  sufficient  for  each  tree. 

Pulp  of  the  Fruit.  As  might  be  supposed,  this  excellent  fertilizer, 
which  goes  to  waste  in  Soconusco,  is  used  extensively  in  Ceylon,  and 
with  very  good  results.  Two  medium-sized  basketfuls  are  sufficient 
for  each  tree.  This  manure  produces  very  good  results  mixed  in  equal 
parts  with  cow-dung.  A  basketful  of  the  mixture  should  be  applied  to 
each  plant,  and  it  is  to  be  used  in  the  same  way  as  unmixed  dung. 
The  pulp  may  be  mixed  with  advantage  with  the  other  fertilizers,  such 
as  lime,  bone-dust,  etc. 

Prunings.  These  make  a  very  good  vegetable  manure.  They  are 
buried  while  green  in  pits,  carefully  covered  over  and  pressed  down; 
but  they  are  now  little  used,  owing  to  the  great  expense  of  making  the 
excavations. 

Mand  Grass.  This  manure  is  used  in  the  same  manner  as  the 
former,  and  gives  very  good  results.  As  this  grass  does  not  grow  in 
Soconusco,  I  think  it  unnecessary  to  speak  of  it  more  in  detail.  I  be- 
lieve, however,  that  the  grass  of  the  country  would  give  results  similar 
to  this  fertilizer,  more  especially  Guinea  grass,  and,  in  general,  all 
vegetable  substances  that  could  be  buried  in  the  ground.  Mand  grass 
revives  and  rejuvenates  plantations  that  have  become  exhausted. 

In  burying  the  grass  care  must  be  taken  not  to  bury  with  it  seeds 
or  shoots  that  might  grow,  for  should  this  be  done  the  coffee  plantation 
would  be  converted  into  a  grass-field. 


340   Coffee  Culture  on  tbe  Soutbern  Coast  of  Cbiapas. 

Mr.  William  King  makes  mention  of  a  plantation  in  Ceylon  in 
which  the  vegetation  growing  in  swampy  places  is  cut  down  every  year 
before  the  gathering  of  the  crop,  piled  in  heaps  and  left  to  rot,  and, 
when  the  coffee  crop  is  gathered,  spread  as  a  fertilizer  around  the 
trunks  of  the  coffee-trees. 

Salts  of  Ammonia.  These  salts  make  an  excellent  manure;  but 
owing  to  their  great  solubility  and  their  affinity  with  water  they  are  apt 
to  be  absorbed  by  the  soil  before  they  can  reach  the  roots  of  the  coffee- 
trees,  or  washed  away  by  the  rains,  so  failing  in  either  case  to  benefit 
the  plant. 

Wood-ashes.  This  fertilizer  has  the  advantage  of  being  very  cheap 
and  very  easy  to  obtain.  It  is  also  a  good  substitute  for  lime  in  local- 
ities where  this  is  not  found.  The  ashes  must  be  buried  in  the  earth, 
as,  if  left  on  the  surface,  the  wind  would  blow  it  away. 

Burnt  Clay.  This  has  been  used  in  Ceylon  with  very  good  results. 
It  has  for  us  the  additional  advantage  of  being  very  cheap  and  very 
easily  procured  in  Soconusco. 

Lime.  This  is  to  be  used,  spreading  it  over  the  ground,  once  every 
five  years.  A  good  mixture  would  be  half  a  pound  of  lime  to  an 
almud  *  of  pulp  for  every  tree. 

Guano.  This  manure  was  at  first  used  in  Ceylon  unmixed  with 
any  other  substance  ;  but,  being  very  active,  it  should  never  be  used 
alone.  Guano  acts  quickly  and  produces  a  very  good  crop,  but  its 
good  effects  pass  quickly,  and  trees  manured  with  guano  soon  lose 
their  productiveness,  which  can  be  restored  only  by  manuring  them 
with  cow-dung.  This  effect  of  guano  is  more  noticeable  in  light 
soils;  in  compact  soil  and  applied  in  small  quantities  its  effects  are 
permanent.  It  is  more  prudent,  however,  never  to  use  guano  alone, 
but  mixed  in  small  quantities  with  other  fertilizers.  Guano  has 
almost  entirely  ceased  to  be  used  in  Ceylon,  and  has  been  replaced 
by  bone-dust. 

Mixtures  of  these  Substances. — Mixtures  of  the  various  substances 
mentioned  have  been  used  as  fertilizers.  A  good  mixture  is  a  layer  of 
cow-dung,  another  of  mana"  grass,  and  another  of  the  pulp  of  the  fruit  of 
the  coffee-tree,  and  so  on  alternatively,  leaving  them  to  be  assimi- 
lated. To  render  this  mixture  more  active,  each  layer  may  be  sprinkled 
with  sal  ammonia,  lime,  and  bone-dust. 

At  present,  however,  such  fertilizers  as  are  considered  most  suitable 
to  the  soil,  without  any  mixture,  are  preferred  in  Ceylon. 

b.  Manner  of  Applying  Fertilizers  to  the  Soil. — The  best  way  of 

using  fertilizers  is  to  dig  a  hole  in  the  earth  at  least  eighteen  inches 

from  the  plant  and  place  the  fertilizer  in  it.     Care  must  be  taken,  in 

digging  the  hole,  not  to  injure  the  tap  roots  of  the  tree;  the  small 

1  Almud,  dry  measure  :—  0.86  of  a  peck. 


/IDanner  of  TUsing  ffertiliaers*  341 

lateral  roots  may  be  cut  without  injury  to  the  plant,  this  operation 
serving  rather  to  benefit  it,  as  it  is  a  species  of  pruning  which  causes 
the  roots  to  grow  with  renewed  vigor.  The  size  of  the  holes  will  vary 
according  to  the  fertilizer  used.  If  the  fertilizer  be  cattle-dung  or 
coffee-pulp  the  hole  is  made  three  feet  long,  eighteen  inches  wide,  and 
one  foot  deep.  As  concentrated  fertilizers  are  stronger  they  do  not 
require  holes  as  large. 

When  the  ground  is  level  and  the  trees  are  planted  at  short  distances 
apart  and  in  straight  furrows,  a  quadrangular  excavation  may  be  made 
for  the  fertilizer  between  every  four  trees.  In  hilly  ground  it  is  prefer- 
able to  dig  the  hole  above  each  tree,  so  that  the  fertilizer,  washed 
down  by  the  rains,  may  be  retained  by  the  roots  of  the  trees.  This 
manner  of  making  the  holes  has,  besides,  the  advantage  that  the  fertil- 
izer remains  in  the  shade  and  under  shelter  of  the  foliage  of  the  tree, 
with  the  result  that  it  evaporates  less  quickly  and  does  not  cause  weeds 
to  grow  which  would  absorb  all  the  fertilizing  matter  before  it  could 
benefit  the  coffee  plant,  as  might  easily  happen  if  the  fertilizer  were 
put  in  a  place  exposed  to  the  sun. 

When  mixed  manures  are  used  a  hole  is  made  on  the  ground  above 
each  tree,  at  the  distance  already  mentioned ;  it  should  be  semi-circular 
in  shape,  and  nine  inches  wide  and  six  inches  deep. 

All  the  holes  made  for  fertilizers  are  to  be  filled  with  the  prunings, 
and  any  other  vegetable  substance  which  may  be  at  hand,  and  covered 
with  loose  earth  taken  from  the  surface  of  the  ground.  The  earth 
taken  from  the  hole  is  to  be  spread  wherever  there  are  any  uncovered 
roots,  and  should  be  well  pressed  down,  to  prevent  the  rains  from 
washing  it  away. 

Fertilizers  should  be  mixed  with  dry  earth  before  using  them. 

c.  Period  at  which  the  Fertilizers  should  be  Used. — The  best  time  to 
manure  the  ground  is  during  the  wet  season.     The  only  fertilizer  that 
should  be  used  in  the  dry  season  is  cow-dung,  which  may  be  used  at 
any  time. 

The  beneficial  effects  of  manure  lasts  for  three  years,  and  conse- 
quently it  will  be  necessary  to  use  the  manure  only  once  in  three  years. 

It  is  advisable  to  manure  the  plantation  before  it  begins  to  decline, 
not  only  because  this  increases  its  productiveness,  but  also  because  the 
cost  will  then  be  less  than  when,  the  vitality  of  the  ground  being 
almost  exhausted,  it  will  be  necessary  to  restore  it  almost  entirely. 

d.  Cost  of  Fertilizers. — Mr.   Sabonadiere   calculates  the  cost  per 
year  of  manuring  an  acre  of  ground  at  from  $15  to  $50,  according  to 
the  price  of  the  substance  used  as  manure  and  the  quantity  employed, 
which  gives  an  average  of  $32.50  per  acre,  or  $3.52}  per  cord. 

The  cost  of  fertilizers  in  Soconusco  would  probably  be  much 
greater. 


342  Coffee  Culture  on  tbe  Soutbern  Coast  of  Cbiapas. 

8.    GATHERING    OF    THE   CROP. 

Under  this  head  the  following  will  be  considered : 

A. — Gathering  the  crop  in  Soconusco. 

B. — Gathering  the  crop  in  Ceylon. 

Each  of  these  points  will  be  considered  separately. 

A.  Gathering  the  Crop  in  Soconusco. — In  regard  to  the  gathering  of 
the  crop  in  Soconusco  and  Guatemala  the  following  points  will  be  con- 
sidered : 

a. — Time  at  which  the  coffee-tree  begins  to  bear  fruit. 

b. — Time  during  which  the  coffee-tree  continues  bearing  fruit. 

c. — Blossoming  and  fructification  of  the  coffee-tree. 

d. — Gathering  the  crop. 

Each  of  these  subjects  will  be  considered  separately. 

a.  Time  at  which  the  Coffee-  Tree  Begins  to  Bear  Fruit. — The  second 
year  after  its  removal  to  the  plantation  the  plant,  providing  it  was  of 
three  or  four  crosses  at  the  time  of  transplanting,  will  bear  its  first 
crop,  called  in  Soconusco  its  trial  crop,  or  first  trial.     In  ground  best 
suited  to  it  and  with  careful  cultivation,  each  tree  will  yield  on  an 
average  four  ounces.     The  following  year,  after  transplanting,  it  gives 
its  second  crop,  which  as  it  is  still  small,  as  compared  to  those  which  it 
yields  afterwards,  is  called  in  Soconusco  its  second  trial.     It  may  be 
considered  that  on  an  average,  and  under  the  conditions  already  men- 
tioned, the  yield  of  each  tree  will  be  one  pound  in  its  second  trial.     In 
the  fourth  year  after  transplantation  it  gives  its  best  crop,  which  aver- 
ages double  that  of  the  second  crop,  and  in  the  succeeding  years  it 
will  continue  yielding  good  crops. 

b.  Time  during  which  the  Co  fee- Tree  Continues  Bearing  Fruit. — As 
the  coffee  plantations  of  Soconusco  and  Guatemala  are  of  comparatively 
recent  planting,  the  duration  of  the  life  of  the  coffee  plant  cannot  yet 
be  determined  with  exactness.     Trees  planted   twenty-five   or  thirty 
years  ago  still  preserve  much  of  their  vigor  and  luxuriance  and  yield 
good  crops,  although  they  have  never  been  manured  and  hardly  ever 
pruned.     It  has  also  been  observed  that  trees  planted  in  the  high  lands 
last  much  longer  than  those  planted  in  the  low  lands. 

Some  planters  are  of  opinion  that  the  duration  of  the  life  of  the 
coffee-tree  depends  on  the  shade  which  is  given  to  it,  and  that  when 
it  is  exposed  to  the  sun  it  will  live  a  shorter  time  than  when  protected 
by  shade.  In  this  regard  what  I  have  already  pointed  out  is  the  case ; 
that  is,  that  a  coffee  plantation  in  low  land,  with  shade,  gives  about  the 
same  yield  as  a  plantation  without  shade  on  higher  land  or  on  land 
which  has  a  lower  temperature;  and  it  is  natural  that  it  should  last 
longer  than  a  plantation  planted  in  low  land  and  also  exposed  to  the 
sun. 


Oatbering  of  tbe  Crop,  343 

c.  Blossoming  and  Fructification  of  the  Coffee-  Tree. — In  the  month 
of  January,  in  the  low,  and  in  March  in  the  high  lands,  green  buds 
appear  on  the  branches  of  the  coffee-tree  which  afterwards  become 
white  flowers,  and  later  on  fruit.     At  first  the  fruit  is  small  and  of  a 
dark  green  color;  as  time  passes  it  grows  larger,  and  when  it  begins  to 
ripen  its  color  changes  to  a  light  green  which,  later,  becomes  whitish, 
then  yellowish,  and  then  red,  of  a  light  shade  at  first,  and  afterwards 
of  a  very  deep  shade.     When  the  fruit  is  of  this  last  color  it  is  entirely 
ripe.     If  not  picked  at  this  stage  the  fruit  drops  from  the  tree  like  any 
other  ripe  fruit. 

The  time  of  the  ripening  of  the  fruit  differs  in  the  high  and  in  the 
low  lands,  as  has  just  been  stated,  as  the  power  of  the  sun  shortens 
considerably,  in  the  latter,  the  operations  of  vegetation.  While  in 
plantations  situated  in  low  localities  the  fruit  begins  to  ripen  in  Sep- 
tember, and  is  all  ripe  in  October,  in  lands  situated  three  thousand  or 
four  thousand  feet  above  the  level  of  the  sea,  the  fruit  begins  to  ripen 
in  November  and  continues  to  ripen  gradually.  In  December  not  a 
single  ripe  fruit  is  to  be  found  in  plantations  situated  in  the  low  lands, 
while  in  those  situated  in  the  high  lands  ripe  fruit  is  still  to  be  found 
in  February  and  even  in  March. 

It  sometimes  happens  that  in  plantations  situated  as  high  as  four 
thousand  feet  above  the  level  of  the  sea  ripe  fruit  is  to  be  found  on 
the  trees  all  the  year  round. 

This  is  another  advantage  of  plantations  situated  in  high  lands, 
for  when  all  the  fruit  ripens  in  the  course  of  two  or  three  weeks,  as 
happens  in  the  low  lands,  there  is  danger  of  losing  a  considerable  part 
of  the  crop  for  want  of  hands — which  are  sometimes  very  difficult  to 
procure,  a  danger  which  is  greatly  lessened  or  which  does  not  exist  at 
all  when  the  picking  of  the  fruit  may  be  done  during  three  months, 
instead  of  three  weeks. 

d.  Gathering  the  Crop. — When  the  fruit  is  ripe  it  is  to  be  picked  by 
hand,  and  with  the  greatest  care,  in  order  not  to  pick  the  fruit  near  by 
which  may  not  be  quite  ripe,  or  injure  the  branch  on  which  it  hangs. 

When  the  trees  are  very  tall,  from  not  having  been  topped,  it  will 
be  necessary  to  use  ladders  in  picking  the  fruit. 

In  very  large  plantations  it  is  necessary  to  construct  cart  roads  to 
facilitate  the  transportation  of  the  fruit  to  the  place  where  it  is  to  be 
prepared  for  market. 

Women  and  children  perform  the  labor  of  picking  the  fruit  better 
than  men. 

The  price  paid  for  each  measure  of  fruit  picked  varies  in  different 
localities,  being  higher,  of  course,  where  labor  is  scarce. 

When  the  coffee-tree  is  not  pruned  it  grows  very  tall.  I  have  seen 
trees  seventeen  or  eighteen  feet  high,  with  a  radius,  at  the  widest 


344   Coffee  Culture  on  tbe  Soutbern  Coast  of  Cbtapas. 

part  of  the  top,  of  as  many  as  twelve  feet,  the  trunks  of  some  of  the 
largest  being  as  much  as  five  inches  in  diameter.  In  such  cases  the 
picking  of  the  fruit  is  more  difficult  and  costly. 

The  trees  are  at  times  so  heavily  laden  with  fruit  that  the  branches 
break  down  under  its  weight.  To  prevent  this  it  is  necessary  to  sup- 
port them  with  props. 

B.  Gathering  the  Crop  in  Ceylon. — To  each  laborer  two  sacks  are 
given,  a  small  one,  which  he  fastens  round  his  waist,  and  a  large  one, 
which  he  hangs  somewhere  near  at  hand.  The  first  is  to  hold  the 
fruit  as  it  is  picked  from  the  tree,  and  the  second  to  receive  the  con- 
tents of  the  first,  every  time  it  has  been  filled. 

The  trees  are  divided  into  rows  and  one  or  two  rows  are  assigned 
to  each  laborer;  so  that  he  does  not  pick  all  the  fruit  of  each  tree, 
but  only  the  fruit  that  is  on  his  side  of  the  tree. 

In  very  hilly  ground  it  is  expedient  to  begin  picking  the  fruit  at  the 
most  elevated  part  of  the  plantation.  The  reason  for  this  is  that  the 
fruit  which  falls  can  be  more  easily  picked  up,  and  that  it  is  easier  for 
the  pickers  to  descend  with  their  loads  than  to  ascend  with  them. 

An  overseer  is  set  over  the  pickers  so  that  they  may  neither  leave 
fruit  that  is  ripe  on  the  trees  nor  pick  unripe  fruit. 

Care  must  be  taken  not  to  pluck  the  branch  with  the  fruit  from  the 
tree. 

A  metal  check  is  given  to  the  pickers  for  each  basket  which  they 
deliver,  and  on  pay  day  they  are  paid  according  to  the  number  of  these 
checks  which  they  return.  This  is  done  in  Guatemala  also. 

The  scarcity  of  hands  and  the  importance  of  not  losing  the  crop 
have  suggested  to  the  planters  of  Ceylon  an  easy  manner  of  conveying 
the  coffee  from  the  trees  to  the  place  where  it  is  to  be  prepared  for  the 
market.  This  consists  in  placing  a  galvanized-iron  pipe  where  a 
stream  of  water  may  pass  through  it  to  the  pulper,  carrying  the  coffee 
with  it.  Mr.  Sabonadiere  estimates  the  cost  of  such  a  pipe  at  from 
$1250  to  $1500  per  mile. 

The  fruit  is  received  in  a  box  of  a  certain  measure,  which  is  so 
placed  that  when  it  is  full  it  can  be  easily  emptied  into  the  tank  from 
which  it  is  conveyed  to  the  pulper.  In  this  way  the  quantity  of  fruit 
received  is  known. 

9.    PREPARATION    OF    THE    COFFEE    FOR    THE    MARKET. 

Under  this  head  the  following  subjects  will  be  considered: 
A. — Preparation  of  coffee  in  Soconusco. 
B. — Improvement  in  the  preparation  of  coffee  in  Soconusco. 
C. — Preparation  of  coffee  in  Ceylon. 

Each  of  these  points  will  be  considered  separately  and  as  briefly  as 
possible. 


preparing  tbe  Coffee  for  flDarfeet,  345 

A.  Preparation  of  Coffee  in  Soconusco. — Of  all  the  operations  re- 
lating to  coffee  the  one  which  in  my  judgment  is  least  advanced  in 
Guatemala  is  its  preparation  for  the  market.  There  are  not  more  than 
four  or  five  estates  where  the  preparation  of  the  fruit  is  systematically 
performed  and  with  an  adequate  saving  of  time,  labor,  and  money. 

I  have  not  seen  any  estate  in  which  all  the  operations  of  preparing 
the  coffee  are  performed  by  machinery,  that  is,  in  which  the  ripe  fruit 
is  thrown  into  a  general  receptacle,  from  which  it  passes  to  others  until 
it  comes  out  sorted  and  graded,  without  the  intervention  of  the  hand 
of  man,  as  is  the  case  with  wheat  and  flour,  in  the  flour  mills.  There 
are  estates,  however,  in  which  the  operations  of  preparing  the  coffee 
are  greatly  simplified,  the  same  water-power  being  used  for  all  of  them. 

All  the  operations  described  below  are  employed  in  Guatemala ;  for 
in  Soconusco  not  even  the  most  necessary  machines  are  used.  So  far 
the  estate  of  El  Malacate  only  has  an  iron  pulper,  a  wooden  retrilla, 
and  a  fan.  The  coffee  is  generally  pulped  on  grinding  stones  and 
bruised  in  wooden  mortars. 

The  preparation  of  coffee  for  the  market  includes  the  following 
operations : 

a. — Pulping. 

b. — Washing. 

c. — Separating  the  good  coffee  from  the  bad. 

d. — Exposure  to  the  sun. 

e. — Shelling. 

f. — Dyeing. 

g.  — Winnowing. 

h. — Sorting  the  coffee. 

Each  of  these  different  operations  will  be  treated  of  separately. 

a.  Pulping. — The  coffee,  when  it  arrives  at  the  place  where  it  is  to 
be  prepared  for  the  market,  is  deposited  in  a  tank  full  of  water,  which 
has  a  pipe  leading  to  the  pulper,  into  which  the  water,  passing  through 
the  pipe,  gradually  carries  it.  As  a  general  rule  these  machines  are 
made  of  cast  iron,  and  are  almost  everywhere  hand  motors,  although 
they  might  easily  be  moved  by  the  water  used  on  the  plantation. 

The  pulping  machine  removes  the  outer  skin  from  the  coffee  and 
separates  the  two  beans  which  each  fruit  as  a  general  rule  contains,  with 
the  exception  of  the  kind  called  the  pea  berry,  which  has  a  single  bean 
of  an  elliptical  shape.  The  hull,  or  pulp,  as  it  was  called  when  treating 
of  fertilizers,  is  thrown  away,  when  it  might  be  employed  with  advan- 
tage in  manuring  the  ground. 

Pulping  machines  have  been  in  use  since  the  time  of  Laborie,  that 
is,  some  eighty  years,  although  they  were  then  constructed  of  wood ; 
those  now  in  use  have  not  changed  essentially  in  principle. 

Mr.  Sabonadiere  mentions  the  pulping  machines  which  have  exclu- 


346    Coffee  Culture  on  tbe  Soutbern  Coast  of  Cbiapas. 

sive  privilege  in  England  ;  these  are  the  Butler,  Wall,  Walker,  and  Gor- 
don machines.  The  last  is  the  only  one  I  have  seen  used  in  Guatemala. 
Mr.  Sabonadiere  prefers  the  first. 

b.  Washing. — The  coffee  beans,  now  skinned  and  separated,  when 
they  leave  the  pulping  machine  fall  into  another  tank  full  of  water,  in 
which  they  remain  twenty-four  hours,  in  order  that  they  may  be  freed 
from  a  sweet  mucilaginous  substance  of  a  light  color  which  is  found  be- 
tween the  skin  and  the  shell  of  the  beans.     With  this  object  they  are 
stirred  about  with  a  wooden  shovel  just  before  being  removed  from  the 
tank. 

c.  Separating  the  Good  Coffee  from  the  Bad. — The  perfect  beans 
possess  a  higher  specific  gravity  than  water  and  sink  in  it ;  those  which 
float  are  of  poor  quality  and  constitute  what  is  called  waste  coffee,  or 
coffee  of  the  lowest  grade. 

In  order  to  facilitate  the  separation  of  the  perfect  from  the  imper- 
fect beans,  a  part  of  the  principal  tank  is  divided  off,  forming  a  second 
tank,  smaller  and  lower  than  the  first,  so  that  the  imperfect  beans  may 
be  carried  easily  into  it  by  the  water  or  by  the  hand.  It  is  better  to 
construct  the  dividing  wall  of  the  two  tanks  of  the  same  height  as  the 
others,  and  provide  it  with  a  small  sluice,  which,  when  opened,  will 
establish  a  current  that  will  carry  the  imperfect  beans  from  the  larger 
into  the  smaller  tank.  When  the  beans  are  thus  separated,  the  process 
of  preparing  them  for  the  market  is  conducted  separately. 

d.  Exposure  to  the  Sun. — When  the  beans  have  been  pulped  and 
washed  they  must  be  thoroughly  dried,  and  this  is  effected  by  the 
action  of  the  sun,  which  makes  this  process  an  exceedingly  slow  and 
costly  one.     A  sort  of  threshing-floor  is  constructed  which  is  paved 
with  stone  and  mortar,  and  on  this  the  coffee  is  exposed  to  the  sun. 
The  coffee  must  be  taken  in  every  day  at  sunset,  or  before,  if  the  sky 
looks  threatening,  so  that  it  may  not  be  exposed  to  the  rain  or  dew. 
In  some  estates  the  coffee  is  merely  heaped  up  in  a  corner  of  the  yard 
and  covered  with  leaves  or  mats;  but  in  such  case  it  runs  the  risk  of 
being  stolen ;  and,  besides,  when  the  coffee  is  piled  up  there  is  danger 
of  its  fermenting,  which  would  injure  its  quality.     The  coffee  must 
also  be  constantly  moved  about  while  it  is  in  the  yard,  in  order  that  the 
sun  may  have  access  to  every  part  of  it  and  not  to  that  only  which  is 
on  top. 

These  operations,  which  are  very  tedious  when  the  quantity  of 
coffee  to  be  dried  is  considerable,  have  to  be  continued  for  at  least 
fifteen  days,  if  the  weather  is  fine,  to  dry  the  coffee  thoroughly.  If  it 
is  stored  before  it  is  perfectly  dry,  it  may  rot  or  at  least  become  dis- 
colored, and  lose  greatly  both  in  quality  and  price. 

When  the  weather  is  cloudy  or  rainy,  which  often  happens  in 
mountainous  lands  situated  at  three  thousand  or  four  thousand  feet 


preparing  tbe  Coffee  for  flDarfeer.  347 

above  the  level  of  the  sea,  where  the  sun  is  visible  only  for  six  or  eight 
hours  daily,  the  operation  of  drying  the  coffee  is  a  much  slower,  and 
consequently  a  much  more  expensive  one. 

There  is  no  operation  in  the  preparation  of  coffee  which  may  be  so 
easily  simplified  as  that  of  drying,  performing  it  by  means  of  artificial 
heat.  Stoves  for  this  purpose  have  been  already  invented  in  Guate- 
mala, but  thus  far  they  have  not  given  entirely  satisfactory  results.  I 
believe,  however,  that  the  day  is  not  far  distant  when  some  speedy, 
cheap,  and  efficacious  means  of  drying  coffee,  other  than  the  primitive 
one  of  exposing  it  to  the  sun's  rays,  will  be  discovered. 

e.  Shelling. — After  the  coffee  has  been  pulped,  washed,  and  dried, 
there  is  still  another  strong  covering  to  be  removed  from  it  before  it  is 
ready  for  the  market. 

The  alternate  moisture  and  heat  to  which  this  covering  is  exposed 
during  the  operation  of  washing  and  drying  the  bean,  causes  it  to  con- 
tract and  expand  greatly,  with  the  result  that  it  becomes  loosened  from 
the  bean  and  in  many  cases  breaks,  this  greatly  facilitating  its  removal. 

Various  instruments  have  been  employed  to  facilitate  this  operation, 
but  the  one  which  has  thus  far  given  the  best  results  is  the  "  retrilla." 
This  consists  of  one  or  two  solid  wheels  of  heavy  wood,  of  from  one 
and  a  half  to  two  yards  in  diameter,  and  from  eight  to  nine  inches 
thick,  set  vertically,  which  are  made  to  revolve  over  a  species  of  circu- 
lar box  lined  with  wood,  and  are  generally  moved  by  oxen.  In  some 
plantations  I  have  seen  iron  "  retrillas, "  made  in  England,  on  the  same 
model  as  the  wooden  ones,  and  moved  by  water. 

The  coffee  in  the  husk  is  put  into  the  box,  and  the  wheel  by  its 
weight  and  its  movement  removes  the  coriaceous  covering  from  the 
bean  without  breaking  it,  and  loosens  another  thinner  inner  covering 
which  resembles  the  filmy-like  skin  of  an  onion.  Combined  with  the 
wheel  is  a  sort  of  shovel  which  serves  to  move  the  coffee  about. 

f.  Dyeing. — A  bluish  color  in  coffee,  being  highly  esteemed  in  for- 
eign markets,  is  given  to  it  artificially  on  some  estates  by  covering  the 
surface  of  the  wheels  which  hull  the  coffee  with  sheets  of  lead,  which 
give  it  the  desired  color.     If  the  demands  of  commerce  render  this 
color  indispensable,  some  other  substance  might  be  employed  to  give 
it,  which  is  free  from  the  hygienic  objections  of  lead. 

g.  Winnowing. — The  coffee  beans  leave  the  machine  mixed  with  the 
two  coverings  above  mentioned.     To  separate  them  from  these  the 
fanner  is  used,  and  performs  the  operation  quickly  and  efficaciously. 
Some  fanners  have  the  additional  advantage  of  sorting  the  coffee,  an 
operation  which  will  now  be  described. 

h.  Sorting  the  Coffee. — The  coffee  being  now  perfectly  clean  must 
next  be  sorted,  as  the  beans  differ  in  size,  shape,  and  color,  and  some 
are  broken  and  others  whole.  As  the  different  kinds  of  coffee  differ 


348  Coffee  Culture  on  tbe  Soutbern  Coast  of  Cbiapas. 

greatly  in  price,  it  must  be  sent  to  market  already  classified,  to  obtain 
the  highest  price.  Hence  the  necessity  of  sorting  it. 

This  operation  is  performed  almost  everywhere  by  hand ;  but  I  have 
seen  on  some  estates  separating  machines,  which  consist  of  various 
cylinders  having  holes  of  different  sizes,  through  which  the  different 
kinds  of  coffee  run  out,  similar,  in  principle,  to  the  separators  of  flour 
in  flour  mills.  Even  when  separating  machines  are  employed,  how- 
ever, it  will  still  be  necessary  to  separate  by  hand  the  coffee  beans  of 
different  colors,  but  there  will  now  be  very  few  of  these. 

American  fanners  are  also  employed,  as  has  been  said,  in  sorting 
the  coffee. 

In  those  estates  in  which  this  operation  is  performed  with  most 
care,  the  coffee  is  separated  into  five  classes,  as  follows : 

i st.  Pea  berry,  which  is  considered  the  best. 

2d.  First-class,  which  includes  the  largest  beans,  all  being  of  the 
same  size  and  color. 

$d.  Second-class,  including  medium-sized  beans. 

4th.  Third-class,  including  the  smallest  beans. 

5th.  Waste  coffee,  including  beans  of  a  bad  color,  broken  beans, 
those  that  floated  on  the  water  and  all  those  that  cannot  be  included  in 
any  of  the  preceding  classes. 

When  the  operations  mentioned  have  been  all  performed  the  coffee 
may  be  said  to  be  ready  for  the  market. 

B.  Improvement  in  the  Preparation  of  Coffee  in  Soconusco. — In  my 
opinion,  the  superior  excellence  of  the  Co  lima  coffee,  as  compared 
with  that  grown  in  Soconusco,  consists  chiefly  in  the  manner  of  its 
preparation. 

In  Colima  the  coffee  is  not  first  washed,  as  in  Soconusco,  thus  re- 
moving the  mucilaginous  part  of  which  mention  has  been  made,  but  is 
allowed  to  dry  with  this  substance  on  it.  Thus  the  coffee  absorbs  a 
considerable  part  of  the  substance  contained  in  the  mucilage,  which 
improves  its  aroma  and  its  quality,  while  the  advantages  of  said  sub- 
stance are  entirely  lost  when  the  beans  are  first  washed  and  thus 
deprived  of  it. 

I  believe,  therefore,  that  the  quality  of  Soconusco  coffee  would  be 
greatly  improved  by  following  in  its  preparation  the  system  followed  in 
Colima,  and  probably  in  other  places ;  that  is,  to  allow  the  coffee  beans 
to  absorb,  when  drying,  the  saccharine  substance  which  is  found  be- 
tween them  and  their  inner  covering  or  shell. 

C.  Preparation  of  Coffee  in  Ceylon. — In  the  estates  of  Ceylon  coffee 
is  prepared  for  market  in  the  same  manner  as  in  Soconusco,  until  it 
remains  in  the  hull ;  it  is  then  sent  to  the  port  of  Colombo,  where  it 
receives  the  final  preparation. 

This  is  performed  in  the  following  manner:  When  the  coffee  is 


preparation  of  tbe  Coffee  in  Geslon,  349 

ripe,  the  sooner  it  is  pulped  the  better,  as,  if  this  operation  is  delayed, 
the  coffee  becomes  heated,  which  injures  the  color  of  the  shell.  In 
very  dry  weather  it  is  sometimes  necessary  to  sprinkle  the  coffee  lightly 
with  water  a  few  hours  before  pulping  it,  as,  if  it  were  pulped  dry  the 
beans  would  break  and  the  coffee  lose  in  quality. 

The  pulping  machines  are  moved  in  Ceylon  by  steam. 

When  the  coffee  leaves  the  pulping  machine,  it  passes  into  large 
tanks  paved  and  walled  with  stone,  where  it  is  kept  until  the  mucilage 
remaining  on  it  has  fermented  sufficiently.  The  time  which  it  should 
remain  in  the  tanks  depends  on  the  elevation  of  the  plantation  above 
the  level  of  the  sea,  and  the  state  of  the  temperature.  At  an  altitude 
of  three  thousand  feet,  the  coffee  should  be  kept  in  the  tanks  for  two 
days. 

The  receiving  tanks  have  an  opening  at  the  bottom  to  allow  the 
water  to  run  out,  in  addition  to  the  sluice  through  which  the  coffee 
passes  from  the  receiving  tank  into  the  tank  in  which  it  is  to  be  washed. 
When  it  is  ready  to  be  washed,  the  water  is  allowed  to  run  into  the  re- 
ceiving tank;  the  coffee  is  moved  about  with  long-handled  wooden 
shovels,  two  feet  in  length  and  nine  inches  in  width,  until  there  is 
sufficient  water  in  the  contiguous  tank.  When  the  coffee  has  passed 
into  this  tank  the  water  is  to  be  changed  several  times  until  the  muci- 
laginous part  is  entirely  removed  and  the  parchment-like  hull  is  of  a 
yellowish-white  color. 

The  tank  in  which  the  coffee  is  washed  should  be  slightly  inclined, 
so  that  the  lighter  beans  and  the  husks  may  be  carried  to  the  lower  end, 
where  they  are  collected  by  means  of  sieves  or  baskets.  The  beans 
that  float  are  allowed  to  pass  into  another  lower  tank,  where  all  the 
coffee  of  inferior  quality  is  collected. 

After  it  has  been  washed,  the  coffee  in  the  hull  is  heaped  up  on  an 
inclined  platform,  to  allow  the  water  to  run  off,  remaining  there  until 
the  following  morning,  or  longer,  if  the  weather  is  wet.  If  the  weather 
continues  wet,  the  coffee  is  carried  to  the  storehouse  and  spread  on 
mats,  spreading  it  out  as  much  as  the  space  will  permit,  so  that  the  air 
may  dry  it.  When  the  wet  weather  continues  long  and  the  storehouses 
are  full,  the  coffee  is  allowed  to  remain  on  mats,  fires  being  made  to 
dry  the  air.  The  coffee  is  to  be  moved  about  continually,  in  order  that 
it  may  not  become  heated;  and  it  should  even  be  sprinkled  with  water 
daily.  When  the  wet  weather  continues  very  long,  there  is  danger  of 
the  coffee  being  spoiled  by  becoming  heated  and  germinating. 

When  the  weather  is  dry  and  the  sun  hot,  two  days  will  be  sufficient 
to  prepare  the  coffee  for  sending  it  to  the  port  of  Colombo.  When  the 
coffee  has  been  well  washed  and  thoroughly  dried  immediately  after 
being  washed,  it  is  of  a  light  color  and  very  lustrous. 

Coffee  of  inferior  quality  and  waste  coffee  are  dried  apart. 


350   Coffee  Culture  on  tbe  Soutbern  Coast  of  Cbtapas. 

When  the  coffee  is  perfectly  clean  the  bean  assumes  a  bluish  color 
which  afterwards  changes  to  a  grayish  green. 

The  final  operations  of  preparing  the  coffee  for  market  are  per- 
formed in  Colombo,  and  consist  in  drying  the  bean  until  it  becomes 
very  hard,  removing  from  it  the  parchment-like  hull  and  the  pellicle 
underneath,  cleansing  it  by  means  of  a  fanner,  sorting  the  beans 
according  to  size  and  shape,  and  removing  by  hand  black  or  broken 
beans. 

The  grades  of  Ceylon  coffee  are  No.  i,  No.  2,  pea-berry  and  waste 
coffee. 

Ceylon  coffee  is  sent  to  market  in  casks  or  barrels.  The  coffee  of 
Soconusco  and  Guatemala  is  sent  to  market  in  bags. 

VI. 

PROFITS  OF  COFFEE  CULTURE. 

The  best  manner  of  showing  the  profits  of  coffee  culture  is  to  make 
an  approximate  estimate  of  the  cost  and  of  the  product  of  a  plantation 
of  a  given  size.  Such  an  estimate,  however  carefully  made,  cannot  be 
altogether  exact,  and  at  most  can  only  be  considered  as  approximate. 
It  frequently  happens,  that  in  the  same  place  and  with  the  same  sys- 
tem of  cultivation,  one  planter,  because  of  his  greater  diligence  and 
aptitude,  will  raise  a  crop  with  much  less  cost  than  another.  This 
will  be  the  case  with  still  greater  reason  when  different  localities  are 
in  question.  It  frequently  happens,  also,  that  unforeseen  circum- 
stances will  render  necessary  fresh  expenses,  which  were  not  calculated 
upon  at  first.  It  is  to  be  observed,  too,  that  even  in  Soconusco  it  is  re- 
marked that  year  after  year  there  is  an  increase  in  the  price  of  pro- 
visions and  of  the  necessaries  of  life,  which  will  of  necessity  increase 
the  cost  of  labor,  as  well  as  the  other  expenses  of  the  plantation.  An 
estimate  which,  made  now,  might  be  approximate,  within  a  year  or  two 
would  be  too  low. 

The  cost,  productiveness,  and  profit  of  a  coffee  plantation,  in 
different  localities,  in  order  to  form  a  more  correct  estimate,  will  now 
be  considered. 

1.  Cost,    productiveness,    and    net    profits    of    a    plantation    in 
Soconusco. 

2.  Cost,  productiveness,  and  profits  of  coffee  in  Barcenas  plantation. 

3.  Cost  and  productiveness  of  a  coffee  plantation  in  Ceylon. 
Each  of  these  subjects  will  be  separately  considered. 

I.    COST,   PRODUCTIVENESS,   AND  NET  PROFITS  OF  COFFEE  IN  SOCONUSCO. 

To  proceed  in  regular  order  the  following  subjects  will  now  be 
considered : 


(Lost  of  Coffee  IRateing  in  Soconusco.  351 

A. — Cost  of  a  plantation  in  Soconusco. 

B. — Productiveness  of  a  plantation  in  Soconusco. 

C. — Profits  of  coffee  in  Soconusco. 

Each  of  these  points  will  be  considered  separately. 

A.  Cost  of  a  Plantation  in  Soconusco. — The  probable  cost  of  a  coffee 
plantation  in  Soconusco  of,  say,  one  thousand  cuerdas,  using  the  utmost 
diligence  and  economy,  would  be  as  follows,  calculated  year  by  year 
in  order  to  make  the  calculation  with  greater  facility  and  exactness: 

a. — Value  of  the  ground. 

b. — Expenses  of  the  first  year. 

c. — Expenses  of  the  second  year. 

d. — Expenses  of  the  third  year. 

e. — Expenses  of  the  fourth  year. 

f. — Resume*  of  expenses. 

The  expenses  of  each  year  will  be  separately  considered. 
a.  Value  of  the  Ground. — In  speaking  of  the  value  of  the  unculti- 
vated lands  of  Soconusco,  it  was  mentioned  that  the  price  of  those  of 
Chiapas,  according  to  the  tariff  of  the  present  biennial,1  is  25  cents  per 
hectare,  or  $10.69  Per  caballeria,  and  that  if  two  or  three  caballerias 
were  purchased,  the  cost  would  not  be  more  than  double  that  sum. 
To  form  a  coffee  plantation  of  1000  cuerdas,  two  caballerias  would  be 
required,  to  allow  ground  for  the  fodder  of  the  animals  and  other 
uses  ;  roads,  buildings,  patiss,  etc.  To  make  an  estimate  which  is 
rather  above  than  below  the  cost,  the  caballerias  may  be  put  at  a  maxi- 
mum of  $50  ;  the  two  caballerias  consequently  costing  $100. 

b.  Expenses  of  the  First  Year. — In  the  first  year  the  following  will 
be  expended  in  forming  the  nursery  : 

Preparation  of  the  Ground. — Three  day's  labor,  one  in  stubbing,  another 
in  hewing,  and  the  third  in  chopping,  for  each  cuerda,  at  25  cents  per 
day's  labor,  make  75  cents  per  cuerda.  To  plant  1000  cuerdas  of  coffee 
a  nursery  of  30  cuerdas  will  be  required,  which  will  cost $  22  50 

Seed. — By  planting  the  nursery  with  seeds  much  of  the  cost  of  buying  and 
transporting  coffee  plants  would  be  saved,  but  supposing  that  the 
nursery  be  formed  of  plants,  175,000  plants,  at  $2  per  thousand,  will 
cost 350  oo 

Transportation,  Planting,  and  Weeding. — Transporting  the  plants  to  the 
place  where  the  nursery  is  made,  planting  them,  and  eight  weedings 
per  year,  at  $5  per  cuerda,  will  cost  for  30  cuerdas 150  oo 

Other  Expenses. — Cost  of  the  houses  for  the  laborers,  salary  of  the  super- 
intendent, purchase  of  implements,  payment  of  taxes,  expenses  of 
roads,  losses  in  money  advanced  to  laborers,  and  other  incidental  ex- 
penses, in  the  first  year 500  oo 

Total  expenses  in  the  first  year $1,022  50 

1  The  Fomento  Department  of  Mexico  publishes  every  two  years  a  schedule  of 
prices  at  which  public  lands  are  sold,  varying  in  each  State. 


352   Coffee  Culture  on  tbe  Soutbern  Coast  ot  Cbfapas* 

c.  Expenses  of  the  Second  Year. — In  the  second  year  the  young 
trees  are  permanently  planted,  and  the  following  expenses  will  be  in- 
curred : 

Preparing  the  Ground. — Clearing  of  1200  cuerdas,  as  in  order  to  plant  1000 
cuerdas,  it  will  be  necessary  to  prepare  1200,  to  allow  for  what  is 
lost  in  roads,  houses,  and  other  uses,  at  50  cents  per  cuerda  for  stubbing 

and  hewing $    600  oo 

Staking. — Planting  104,000  stakes,  to  plant  the  same  number  of  coffee 

trees  in  1000  cuerdas  of  ground,  at  the  rate  of  750  stakes  for  25  cents.          34  67 

Drilling  Holes. — Drilling  104,000  holes,  at  250  holes  for  25  cents 104  oo 

Transplanting. — Planting  104,000  trees,  at  50  trees  for  25  cents 520  oo 

Weeding. — Two  weedings,  the  second  year,  of  1000  cuerdas,  at  25  cents 

per  cuerda.     Each  weeding  will  cost $250  oo 

and  the  two  weedings  will  cost 500  oo 

Other  Expenses. — Repairing  and  construction  of  houses,  superintendent's 
salary,  purchase  of  implements,  nursery,  payment  of  taxes,  roads, 
laborer's  debts,  lost  debts  of  runaway  laborers,  etc 650  oo 

Total  expenses  for  the  second  year $2,408  67 

d.  Expenses  for  the  Third  Year. — In  the  third  year  the  expenses  of 
the  plantation  will  be  the  following  : 

Weedings. — Four  weedings  of  1000  cuerdas,  at  $250  each  weeding,  will 

amount  in  the  year  to $1,000  oo 

Threshing  fioors. — Construction  of  500  square  yards  of  drying  floor,  at 

$1.25  the  square  yard 625  oo 

Pulper. — A  pulping  machine,  cost  of  transportation  and  of  a  building  in 

which  to  set  it  up 400  oo 

Retrilla. — Construction  of  a  retrilla  and  building  for  it 250  oo 

Fanner. — Purchase  of  a  fanner 80  oo 

Oxen. — Two  yoke  of  oxen  to  work  the  retrilla,  at  $50  each 100  oo 

Picking  the  Fruit. — Picking  the  fruit  of  the  first,  or  trial  crop 300  oo 

Other  Expenses. — Construction  and  repairing  of  houses,  superintendent's 
salary,  purchase  of  implements,  nurseries,  taxes,  roads,  debts  of  labor- 
ers in  service,  bad  debts  of  runaway  laborers,  etc.,  etc 650  oo 

Total  expenses  for  the  third  year $3,405  oo 

e.  Expenses  for  the  Fourth  Year. — The  expenses  for  the  fourth  year 
will  be  : 

Weedings. — Four  weedings,  at  $250  each $1,000  oo 

Threshing  fioors. — 1500  square  yards  of  drying  floor,  at  $1.25  per  yard. ..  1,875  °° 

Machinery. — Fixing  the  machinery  and  construction  of  other  buildings. . .  300  oo 

Picking  the  Fruit. — Expenses  of  gathering  the  fruit  of  the  second  crop. . .  800  oo 
Other  Expenses. — Expenses  for  employes,    roads,   implements,    nursery, 

taxes,  debts  of  laborers  in  service,  bad  debts  of  runaway  laborers,  etc.  750  oo 


Total  expenses  for  the  fourth  year $4,725  oo 

/.  Resume1  of  Expenses. — The  total  amount  of  the  expenses  incurred 
in  a  plantation  of  1000  cuerdas  in  four  years  is,  then,  the  following  : 


profits  of  Coffee  "Raising  In  Soconusco.          353 

Value  of  the  ground $      100  oo 

Expenses  for  the  first  year 1,022  50 

"     "   second    "  2,40867 

"          '     "      third    " 3,40500 

"     "    fourth"  4,72500 


Total  expenses  for  four  years $i  1,661  17 

The  total  outlay  on  each  cuerda  planted  with  coffee,  including 
buildings,  machinery,  etc.,  will  therefore  be  $11.66,  and  that  of  each 
tree,  a  little  more  than  1 1  cents. 

B.  Productiveness  of  a  Plantation  in  Soconusco. — The  following  is 
an  approximate  estimate  of  the  yield  of  a  plantation  of  1000  cuerdas 
in  Soconusco  : 

In  the  third  year  each  plant  will  yield  four  ounces  of  coffee,  104,000  plants 
will  yield  26,000  Ibs.,  which,  at  a  minimum  price  of  10  cents  per  lb., 
will  be $2,600  oo 

In  the  fourth  year  the  yield  will  be  i  lb.  per  tree,  or  104,000  Ibs.,  which, 

at  10  cents  per  lb.,  are 10,400  oo 


Total  yield  in  the  first  two  years  of  bearing $13,000  oo 

That  is,  $13  per  cuerda,  or  12^  cents  per  tree. 
C.  Profits  of  Coffee  in  Soconusco. — 

As  we  have  just  seen,  the  yield  of  a  plantation  of  1000  cuerdas  in  the  third 

and  fourth  years  after  planting  is $13,000  oo 

The  total  outlay  during  the  four  years  has  been 11,661  17 

There  remains,  then,  after  the  fourth  year  a  net  profit  of $!,338  83 

This  profit  is  more  or  less  the  equivalent  of  the  interest  of  the  capi- 
tal invested  until  the  plantation  begins  to  produce  fruit ;  that  is  to  say, 
that  in  four  years  the  capital  and  its  interest  are  repaid. 

The  fifth  year  after  the  coffee  has  been  planted,  or  the  third  year  after 
it  has  commenced  to  produce,  and  in  the  succeeding  years,  the  yield 
will  be  2  Ibs.  per  tree,  or  208,000  Ibs.,  which,  at  10  cents  per  lb.,  will 
give $20,800  oo 

Deducting  the  expenses  of  cultivation,  preparing  the  coffee  for  the  market 
and  improvements  during  the  year,  estimated  at  a  maximum  of  $5  per 
cuerda,  on  1000  cuerdas  we  have 5,ooo  oo 

Net  profit  of  the  fifth  year  and  of  each  year  thereafter $15,800  oo 

There  is,  then,  in  the  fifth  year,  and  in  every  year  thereafter,  a 
profit  of  135.49  per  cent,  on  the  capital  invested  during  the  four  first 
years,  which,  with  its  interest,  has  been  already  repaid. 

Each  cuerda  will  give  $15.80  per  year,  and  each  tree  a  little  more 
than  15  cents. 

In  addition  to  which,  the  planter  has  in  his  favor  the  advantage  of 
a  possible  rise  in  prices — the  price  being  last  year  as  much  as  $10  per 
quintal  for  coffee  on  the  plantation. 


354   Coffee  Culture  on  tbe  Soutbern  Coast  ot  Cbiapas, 

2.    COST,  PRODUCTIVENESS,  AND    PROFITS   OF    COFFEE    IN    BARCENAS 

PLANTATION. 

Persons  who  have  had  experience  in  coffee  culture  consider  that 
the  foregoing  calculations  are  not  exaggerated.  Nevertheless,  in  order 
to  rectify  them  by  presenting,  not  calculations  which  may  give  more 
or  less  probable  results,  but  data  taken  from  one  of  the  best  managed 
coffee  plantations,  situated  between  the  cities  of  Antigua  and  Guate- 
mala, belonging  to  Mr.  Jose  Maria  Samayoa,  I  give  below  the  separate 
items  furnished  me  by  its  very  able  manager.  The  items  refer  to  cul- 
ture by  manzana,  which  is  a  lot  of  land  having  a  square  area  of  100 
varas  per  side,  or  an  area  of  10,000  square  varas,  that  is,  16  cuerdas. 

I  will  divide  this  subject  as  follows : 

A.  Cost  of  coffee  culture  in  Barcenas. 

B.  Productiveness  of  coffee  in  Barcenas. 

C.  Profit  of  coffee  in  Barcenas. 

The  three  points  shall  be  especially  considered. 
A.  Cost  of  Coffee  in  Barcenas. — Each  manzana  of  coffee  costs  at 
Barcenas,  every  four  years,  as  follows  : 

Nursery  and  Seeds. — A  manzana  can  contain  1666  trees  planted  at  2  varas 
distance  from  each  other,  there  being  three  between  furrows  ;  the  cost 

will  be  $12  per  thousand  plants,  and  the  1666  trees  will  cost $20  oo 

Stakes  and  Holes. — 1666  stakes,  and  the  same  number  of  holes  at  the  rate 

of  $3  per  thousand 5  oo 

Preparation  of  the  Ground. — Per  each  manzana 10  oo 

Transplanting. — 1666  trees  at  $2.50  per  thousand 4*7 

Weedings. — Three  with  plow,  the  first  year,  after  planting,  at  $i  per 

manzana 3  oo 

Three  during  the  second  year,  and  three  during  the  third  year  with 

spade,  at  $2  each  weeding  12  oo 

Four  weedings  in  the  fourth  year  with  spade,  at  $3  each  weeding. ...  12  oo 

Other  Expenses. — Fencing,  etc.,  in  two  years,  at  $i  per  year 2  oo 


Total  cost $68  17 

B.  Productiveness  of  Coffee  in  Barcenas. — A  manzana  of  coffee  in 
Barcenas  yields  as  follows  : 
The  third  year  after  planting  the  coffee  tree,  a  crop  is  obtained  yielding  3 

ounces  per  tree,  or  say  312$  pounds,  which,  at  10  cents  per  pound, 

gives $31  23 

In  the  fourth  year  after  planting,  the  crop  amounts  to  one  pound  per  tree, 

or  1666  pounds,  which,  at  10  cents  per  pound,  gives 166  60 


Total  proceeds $197  83 

C.  Profits  of  Coffee  Culture  in  Barcenas. — 

The  proceeds  from  a  manzana  of  coffee  at  Barcenas  is $197  83 

The  cost  of  each  manzana  is 68  17 

There  remains  a  net  yearly  profit  per  manzana  of $129  66 


Cost  anfc  profit  of  Coffee  IRalstng  in  Cepiotu      355 

According  to  the  above  data,  a  cuerda  of  coffee  costs  $4.26,  and 
«ach  tree  yields  a  little  more  than  4  cents,  and  the  proceeds  per  cuerda 
are  $12.36,  and  per  tree  a  little  less  than  12  cents. 

One  must  consider  the  fact  that  in  the  above  data  no  notice  has 
been  taken  of  the  cost  of  buildings,  machinery,  clerks,  preparing  the 
coffee  for  the  market,  taking  up  of  the  crop,  debts  of  the  laborers  while 
on  the  plantation,  and  of  the  runaways  and  other  items  comprised  in 
the  calculations  made  above  regarding  the  cost  of  coffee  in  Soconusco. 

3.    COST    AND    PROFIT    OF   COFFEE    IN    CEYLON. 

The  preceding  estimates,  made  before  seeing  Mr.  Sabonadiere's 
book,  are,  I  think,  fully  corroborated  by  the  estimate  which  that  writer 
gives  of  the  cost  and  profit  of  200  acres  of  ground  planted  with  coffee 
in  Ceylon. 

I  insert  below  Mr.  Sarbonadiere's  estimate,  taken  from  his  Coffee 
Planter  of  Ceylon  (2d  edition,  London,  1870),  and  without  further  al- 
teration than  that  of  the  reduction  to  dollars  and  cents  of  the  sums 
which  he  puts  in  pounds  sterling,  making  this  reduction  on  the  basis  of 
five  dollars  to  the  pound. 

Estimated  expenditure  to  plant  200  acres  of  land  with  coffee  and 
bring  it  into  bearing  : 

FIRST  YEAR— SEPTEMBER,  1865. 

Purchase  of  300  acres  (2,766  cuerdas)  of  land  at  $5  per  acre.    $1,500  oo 

Survey  fees 205  oo       $1,705  oo 

Nursery  or  purchase  of  plants 250  oo 

JANUARY,  1866. 

Salary  of  European  Superintendent  for  one  year $600  oo 

Allowances 200  oo 

Native  Overseer 250  oo        1,050  oo 


MARCH  TO  DECEMBER  31,  1866. 

Felling,  lopping,  and  clearing  up  of  100  acres  (922  cuerdas), 

at  $12.50  per  acre 1*250  oo 

Drilling  holes  in  100  acres,  at  $6.25  per  acre $625  oo 

Staking  100  acres  at  $1.75  per  acre 175  oo 

Planting  100  acres,  at  $2.25  per  acre 225  oo 

Filling  in  holes  at  $2.25  per  acre 225  oo         1,250  oo 

One  mile  of  cart  roads $250  oo 

Two  miles  path,  at  $75  per  mile 150  oo  400  oo 

Carried  forward $5,QO5  oo 


356   Coffee  Culture  on  tbe  Soutbern  Coast  of  Cbtapas, 

Brought  forward $5,905  oo 

Draining  100  acres,  at  $3.75  per  acre 375  oo 

Weeding  to  December,  ten  months,  at  $4.42^  per  acre  per  year  369  oo 

Permanent  Buildings. — Superintendent's  House $1,500  oo 

Overseer's  House 300  oo 

Stone  pillar  and  shingle  houses,  60  by  20,  for  the  laborers. ..         500  oo 

Rice  and  tool  store 125  oo  2,425  oo 

General  expenses  of  transportation 180  oo 

Tools  and  portable  machinery 250  oo 

Contingent  expenses 250  oo 

Losses  in  rice 250  oo 

Medicines  and  medical  attendance 75  oo 

$10,079  °° 

Loss  by  exchange  on  $10,000  at  6  per  cent 600  oo 

Expenses  of  the  first  year $10,679  °° 

SECOND  YEAR— JANUARY  TO  DECEMBER,  1867. 

European  Superintendent $750  oo 

Native  Superintendent 250  oo 

Allowances 180  oo  $1,180  oo 


Felling,  lopping,  burning,  and  clearing  up  of  100  acres  at 

$12.50  per  acre $1,250  oo 

Holing,  staking,  and  planting  of  100  acres,  at  $12.50  per  acre     1,250  oo         2,500  oo 

One  mile  of  road ...       $250  oo 

Two  miles  of  path 150  oo  400  oo 

Draining  100  acres  at  $3.75  per  acre,  per  year 375  oo 

Weeding  of  the  same  for  the  same  time $600  oo 

Weeding  of  100  acres  at  41  cents  per  month  per  acre,  for 

nine  months 369  oo  969  oo 

Permanent  Buildings. — Houses  for  the  laborers,  16  by  20  feet  500  oo 

General  transportation $250  oo 

Tools  and  portable  machinery 150  oo 

General  contingencies 250  oo 

Loss  by  rice 250  oo 

Medicines  and  medical  attendance 75  oo            975  oo 

$6,899  °° 
Loss  by  exchange  on  $6,500  at  6  per  cent 390  oo 

Expenses  of  the  second  year $7,289  oo 

THIRD  YEAR— JANUARY  TO  DECEMBER,  1868. 

European  Superintendent $1,000  oo 

Native  Superintendent 300  oo 

Allowances 180  oo       $i  ,480  oo 


Topping  and  pruning $125  oo 

Supplying  failures 125  oo  250  oo 

Carried  forward $1,730  oo 


Cost  an&  profit  ot  Coffee  ttafsfng  in  Ceylon.      357 

Brought  forward $*>73O  OO 

One  mile  of  cart  road $250  oo 

One  mile  of  path 75  oo 

Repairing  of  roads  and  drains 20000            52500 

Weeding  200  acres  for  twelve  months  at  50  cents  per  month 

per  acre 1,200  OO 

Permanent  Buildings.— Store,  120  by  30  feet,  three  floors, 

iron  roof  and  stone  pillars $5,ooo  oo 

Pulping  house,  water  wheel,  and  machinery 2,500  oo 

Iron  pipes  for  conveying  the  coffee  to  the  pulper 1,250  oo 

House  for  laborers,  60  by  20  feet 50000        9,25000 

Crop  Expenses.— Picking,  pulping,  and  curing  400  cwt.  at  $i .  50 

per  cwt 600  oo 

Transportation  of  1900  bushels  parchment  to  Colombo  at 

yi\  cents 593  75 

Cost  in  Colombo  of  curing  400  cwt.  at  $1.12$  per  cwt. . .  450  oo 

Export  duty  on  400  cwt.,  at  25  cts.  per  cwt 100  oo 

1,743  75 

General  transportation 375  oo 

Purchase  of  tools. 150  oo 

General  contingencies 375  oo 

Loss  by  rice 375  °° 

Medicines  and  medical  attendance 100  oo        1,375  oo 

$15,823  75 
Loss  by  exchange  on  $15,000,  at  6  per  cent 930  oo 

Expenses  of  the  third  year $16,753  75 

RECAPITULATION. 

First  year's  expenditure $10,679  °o 

Second  year's  expenditure 7,289  oo 

Third  year's  expenditure 16,753  75 

Total  expenditure $34,721  75 

Less  value  of  400  cwt.  of  coffee  in  the  London  market, 
at  $16.75  net  per  cwt 6,700  oo 

Estate  Dr.  Jan.  i,  1869 $28,021  75 

Comparing  the  expenses  and  the  yield  of  coffee  in  Ceylon,  accord- 
ing to  the  data  supplied  by  the  preceding  estimate,  with  the  expenses 
and  the  yield  of  coffee  in  Soconusco,  the  total  expenses  are  found  to 
be  greater  in  Ceylon  than  in  Soconusco,  notwithstanding  the  fact  that 
some  of  the  processes  of  cultivating  and  preparing  the  coffee  for 
market  cost  less  there  than  in  Soconusco ;  while  the  yield  is  much  smaller 
in  Ceylon  than  in  Soconusco. 

Two  hundred  acres  are  equivalent  to  1,844  cuerdas.  Calculating 
that  in  each  acre  there  are  planted  1200  trees,  at  a  distance  of  six  feet 
apart,  the  usual  distance  in  Ceylon,  we  shall  have  240,000  trees,  which 
will  give  130^-  trees  to  each  cuerda. 

According  to  Mr.  Sabonadiere's  esitmate,  each  acre   of  ground 


Coffee  Culture  on  tbe  Soutbern  Coast  of  Cbiapas. 

planted  with  coffee  costs,  up  to  the  time  of  bearing,  $173.61,  which  is 
equivalent  to  $18.83  Per  cuerda,  or  14^  cents  per  tree,  while  in  Soconusca 
each  acre  costs  $107.50,  each  cuerda  $11.66,  and  each  tree  n  cents. 

The  causes  of  the  greater  cost  of  coffee  cultivation  in  Ceylon  than 
in  Soconusco  and  Guatemala,  are  chiefly  the  following: 

1.  Higher  price  of  the  land,  which  is  estimated  in  Ceylon  at  $5  per 
acre,  or  $528.77  per  caballeria,  without  the  cost  of  survey,  while  I  have 
estimated  it  in  Soconusco  at  $50  a  caballeria. 

2.  The  greater  cost  of  the  buildings,  which  in  Ceylon  are  con- 
structed of  stone  and  mortar,  with  a  roof  of  galvanized  iron,  and  with- 
out regard  to  economy,  as  their  value  alone  represents  almost  a  third 
of  the  total  cost  of  the  estate,  while  in  Soconusco  they  are  made  of 
pillars  of  unhewed  logs,  with  a  roof  of  straw,  and  at  a  very  moderate 
cost.     The  cost  of  the  buildings  in  Ceylon,  according  to  the  preceding 
estimate,  is  $10,925,  while  in  Soconusco  it  does  not  reach  $1,000. 

3.  The  greater  number  of  operations  required  on  a  coffee  planta- 
tion in  Ceylon,  such  as  draining,  and  topping,  and  pruning  the  trees. 

4.  The  cost  of  roads,  the  cost  of  the  pipes  to  carry  the  coffee  from 
the  plantation  to  the  pulping  house,  the  loss  on  exchange  in  London 
and  the  loss  by  rice,  expenses  which  are  either  not  incurred  in  Soco- 
nusco or  are  very  slight.     The  cost  of  roads  in  Ceylon  is  $1,325,  that 
of  iron  pipes  $1,250,  that  of  exchange  on  London  $1,920,  and  the  loss 
by  rice  $875,  making  a  total  of  $5,660. 

The  items  which  cost  less  in  Ceylon  than  in  Soconusco  are  the 
following  : 

Machinery  and  implements,  for  reasons  which  will  be  readily  under- 
stood, cost  more  in  Soconusco  than  in  Ceylon.  The  same  is  the  case 
with  weeding;  the  reason  of  this  is,  perhaps,  that  the  soil  in  Soconusco, 
being  more  fertile  than  that  of  Ceylon,  produces  more  weeds,  and 
vegetation  is  more  luxuriant  in  the  former  than  in  the  latter. 

A  day's  wages  in  Ceylon  is  seventeen  cents  (8  pence),  but,  taking 
into  account  the  losses  by  rice,  which  is  sometimes  bought  at  a  high 
price  and  sold  at  a  low  price  to  the  laborers,  wages  may  be  estimated 
at  twenty  cents  per  day.  The  task  given  to  each  laborer  as  a  day's 
work  in  Ceylon  is  not  mentioned,  however,  and  perhaps  this  makes  up 
for  the  difference  in  wages. 

The  following  table  will  give  an  idea  of  the  difference,  in  the  cost 
of  cultivating  coffee,  between  Soconusco  and  Ceylon. 

IN   SOCONUSCO.      IN  CEYLON. 

Land,  two  caballerias $100  oo  $1,057  54 

Manager  and  overseer  for  three  years 1,080  oo  3,7IQ  °° 

Nursery 52250  25000 

Clearing  the  ground,  one  cuerda 50  I  35i 

Staking                          "       "    04  19 


Conclusion.  359 

IN  SOCONUSCO.      IN  CEYLON. 

Holing  the  ground,  one  cuerda 12  6yf 

Transplanting  one  cuerda $         52  $         49 

Weedings,  per  year i  oo  54 

Gathering  the  crop  and  preparing  it  for  market  per  cwt.. .  2  25  4  " 

Medicine  and  medical  attendance  for  three  years 250  oo 

Freight 150  oo  805  oo- 

Implements  and  machinery,  two  years 950  oo  400  oo 

General  contingencies 35°  °°  875  OO 

Drainage,  per  cuerda,  two  years 6100 

Mr.  Sabonadiere  estimates  the  yield  of  200  acres  of  land  at  800  cwt.y 
or  88,270  Mexican  Ibs.,  which  gives  a  yield  of  441.35  Ibs.  per  acre,  or 
about  48  Ibs.  per  cuerda,  or  .358  of  a  pound,  which  is  5T\  oz.  per  tree, 

The  yield  of  a  coffee  plantation  in  Soconusco  is  1,917}  Ibs.  per 
acre,  208  Ibs.  per  cuerda,  and  2  Ibs.  per  tree,  as  has  been  already  stated. 
Notwithstanding  that  there  are  in  Soconusco  a  smaller  number  of 
trees  in  each  cuerda,  the  yield  is  more  than  four  times  greater  per 
cuerda,  for  while  each  tree  yields  in  Soconusco  2  Ibs.  of  coffee  in  the 
year,  in  Ceylon  it  yields  only  5T\  oz. 

But  notwithstanding  the  greater  expense  of  coffee  cultivation  in 
Ceylon,  as  compared  with  Soconusco,  it  is  still  a  profitable  industry 
there,  for  the  estimate  made  by  Mr.  Sabonadiere  shows  that  a  planta- 
tion of  300  acres  of  land,  of  which  200  are  planted  with  coffee,  and 
the  total  cost  of  which  has  been  $34,728.75,  will  at  the  end  of  seven 
years  have  paid  off  this  sum  by  its  produce,  the  estate  being  left  free 
and  representing  a  capital  of  from  $60,000  to  $70,000. 

VII. 
CONCLUSION. 

I  have  endeavored  to  carry  out,  to  the  best  of  my  ability,  the  object 
I  had  in  view,  in  writing  this  work,  that  is,  to  facilitate  and  extend 
coffee  cultivation  in  Mexico. 

The  facts  which  I  have  set  down  will,  I  believe,  show  that  there  are 
few  enterprises  that  could  be  undertaken  in  our  country  with  so  much, 
profit  as  the  cultivation  of  coffee. 

The  coffee  crop  of  Soconusco,  last  year  (1873),  did  not  reach,  it  is 
estimated,  1,500  quintals.  The  greater  number  of  the  plantations 
already  formed,  are  situated  in  the  low  lands,  which,  as  I  have  already 
said,  are  the  least  suitable  for  this  crop.  There  seems  to  be  a  growing 
disposition,  however,  to  plant  coffee,  and  new  plantations  are  being 
formed  in  the  high  lands.  Persons  have  even  come  from  other  parts 
to  plant  coffee  in  Soconusco.  Its  production  will  consequently  in- 
crease considerably  within  a  very  short  time. 

I  have  no  data  on  which  to  base  an  estimate  of  the  quantity  of 


360   Coffee  Culture  on  tbe  Soutbern  Coast  ot  Cbiapas, 

coffee  produced  in  the  other  parts  of  the  republic,  where  this  crop  is 
raised;  but  I  imagine  that  the  annual  production,  in  the  entire 
country,  is  about  100,000  quintals — which  is  little  enough — the  greater 
part  of  this  being  raised  on  the  coast  of  Veracruz.  Guatemala  alone 
produces  more  than  200,000  quintals;  and  Costa  Rica,  whose  popula- 
tion does  not  reach  200,000,  very  nearly  300,000  quintals. 

Mexico  possesses  extensive  lands  suitable  for  coffee,  which  are  now 
uncultivated,  and  which  will  make  the  fortunes  of  those  who  shall 
cultivate  them,  contributing  at  the  same  time  to  augment  the  national 
wealth.  The  day  in  which  the  cultivation  of  coffee  assumes  important 
proportions  in  Mexico  there  will  be  opened  up  for  the  country  a  new 
source  of  wealth,  of  agricultural  industry,  which  will  greatly  increase 
its  exports,  and,  as  a  consequence,  its  imports,  its  commercial  activity, 
and  even  the  national  revenues,  while  enriching  the  planters. 

I  earnestly  hope  that  this  little  work  may  contribute,  in  some  degree, 
to  the  realization  of  these  results. 

M.  ROMERO. 
TAPACHULA,  July  iS,  1874 


APPENDIX. 

In  my  book  on  the  State  of  Oaxaca,  I  published  some  facts  about 
the  causes  which  affect  the  climate  of  that  place  which  I  intended  to 
use  when  I  could  make  a  revised  edition  of  my  paper  on  Coffee.  But 
as  that  is  not  possible,  I  think  it  would  be  prudent  to  insert  here  that 
memorandum  which  I  think  will  be  of  some  value  to  anyone  attempt- 
ing to  go  into  coffee-planting. 

The  India- Rubber  World,  of  New  York,  of  August  15,  1893,  pub- 
lished a  letter  of  Mr.  F.  O.  Harriman,  Civil  Engineer,  dated  at  Jaltipan, 
in  the  State  of  Veracruz,  recommending  the  lands  of  the  Isthmus  of 
Tehuantepec  as  very  well  suited  for  coffee  and  india-rubber  culture. 
As  I  was  afraid  that  Mr.  Harriman's  views  were  not  well  grounded,  I 
wrote  on  September  25,  1893,  a  private  letter  to  Mr.  Hawthorne  Hill, 
the  editor  of  that  paper,  pointing  out  what  I  considered  serious  mis- 
takes in  Mr.  Harriman's  paper,  so  that  he  could  correct  them  editorially 
if  he  thought  proper  to  do  so.  Mr.  Hill  answered  me  that  the  best 
way  to  accomplish  that  end  was  to  publish  my  letter,  and  requested  my 
permission  to  do  so,  and  thinking  it  might  do  good  to  discuss  through 
the  press  the  subject  to  which  my  letter  referred,  I  consented  to  its 
publication,  and  it  did  appear  in  the  issue  of  The  India-Rubber  World 
for  October  15,  1893.  Both  Mr.  Harriman,  from  Jaltipan,  and  his 
brother,  Mr.  J.  P.  Harriman,  from  Woonsocket,  Rhode  Island,  answered 
my  letter,  and  I  had  to  write  a  rejoinder,  which  put  an  end  to  the  con- 
troversy. In  compliance  with  the  intimation  I  made  in  the  foot-note 
which  appears  on  page  295  of  the  foregoing  paper,  I  append  the  letters 
published  on  the  subject. 

CAUSES  WHICH   DETERMINE   THE  CLIMATE  OF    A   LOCALITY. 

The  climate  of  any  locality  consists  in  the  combination  of  its  tem- 
perature with  the  humidity  that  prevails  there.  The  sun  is  the  source 
which  sends  forth  heat  to  the  surface  of  the  earth  ;  when  the  sun  is 
over  the  horizon  of  any  locality,  that  locality  receives  heat,  and  when 
it  is  below  the  horizon,  that  same  locality  is  losing  heat  through  irra- 
diation. 

361 


362   Coffee  Culture  on  tbe  Soutbern  Coast  of  Cbiapas. 

The  division  of  the  terrestial  globe  into  five  zones,  the  torrid,  the 
two  temperate,  and  the  two  frigid,  merely  gives  a  general  idea  of  the 
average  temperature  of  those  portions  of  the  earth,  because  the  force 
of  the  sun's  rays  is  modified  by  other  diverse  causes,  which  bring 
about  the  result  that  in  the  same  latitude  various  kinds  of  temperature 
may  exist. 

In  order  to  determine  the  climate  of  a  locality,  various  circumstances 
must  be  taken  into  account,  the  principal  ones  being  the  following  : 

1.  Latitude. — Generally,  latitude  determines  the  temperature  of  the 
locality,  because  the  nearer  it  is  to  the  equator  the  greater  will  be  the 
amount  of  heat  that  it  will  receive,  and  such  amount  will  diminish  in 
proportion  as  the  locality  may  be  far  away  from  the  equatorial  line. 
For  that  reason  the  line  of  perpetual  snow  is  low  as  one  approaches  the 
poles  ;  at  the  equator  it  is  about  three  miles,  and  at  the  poles  it  is  at 
the  level  of  the  sea :  at  20°  of  latitude  it  is  about  14,000  English  feet 
above  the  sea  :  within  the  tropics  its  altitude  is  from  15,000  to  20,000 
feet  above  the  sea  ;  at  30°,  about  12,000  ;  at  40°,  about  10,000  :  at  60°, 
about  4000  ;  at  70°,  about  2000  :  and  at  8°,  is  at  sea  level. 

It  is  also  to  be  noticed  that  the  line  of  perpetual  snow  is  higher 
between  the  10°  and  20°  from  the  equator  than  at  the  equator  itself ; 
this  may  probably  be  due  to  the  fact  that  at  the  equator  the  sun  only 
remains  12  hours  above  the  horizon,  while  near  the  tropics  the 
longest  day  is  about  13^  hours,  and  as  during  that  time  the  sun's  rays 
fall  vertically,  or  nearly  so,  the  heat  in  summer  is  greater  than  on  the 
equator. 

2.  Altitude. — Temperature   becomes   colder   in   proportion  to  the 
altitude  of  a  place,  and  the  influence  of  altitude  is  felt  quicker  than 
that  of  latitude.     If  we  travel  from  the  equator  towards  the  poles  along 
the  sea-level,  we  have  to  go  many  kilometers  before  a  change  of  tem- 
perature is  noticeable,  whilst  as  soon  as  we  begin  to  ascend  from  the 
level  of  the  sea,  a  very  decided  change  of  temperature  is  experienced. 
The  ascent  of  180  English  feet  merely,  brings  about  the  same  change 
of  temperature  as  travelling  one  whole  degree  of  latitude,  or  say,  169^ 
English  miles,  from  the  equator  towards  the  poles.     At  an  elevation  of 
15,000   English  feet  above  the  level  of  the  sea,  we  reach  perpetual 
snow  in  the  equator,  that  being  a  climate  which  corresponds  along  the 
sea-level  to  70°  of  latitude.     For  the  first  1000  feet  of  elevation  above 
the  level  of  the  sea  the  temperature  descends  more  than  7°,  and  higher 
up  about  i°  for  every  500  feet  on  an  average,  and  it  continues  to  de- 
scend less  rapidly  in  proportion  as  the  elevations  become  greater. 

3.  Location  of  Mountain  Chains. — If  the  mountain  chains  are  situ- 
ated in  the  northern  hemisphere,  from  east  to  west,  the  side  that  looks 
to  the  north  is  exposed  to  cold  winds,  and  that  looking  to  the  south  is 
sheltered  from  them,  but  has  the  southern  winds  ;  the  former,  there- 


Causes  wbicb  Betermfne  tbe  Climate.  363 

fore,  has  to  be  colder  than  the  latter.  That  is  the  reason  why  Russian 
Poland,  that  has  no  mountains  between  its  territory  and  the  pole,  has 
during  winter  a  temperature  as  cold  as  that  of  Sweden,  whilst  Hungary, 
which  is  protected  on  the  north  by  the  Carpathian  Mountains,  enjoys 
a  pleasant  climate  similar  to  that  of  Germany. 

4.  Proximity  or  Distance  from  the  Sea. — The  waters  of  the  ocean 
have  a  more  uniform  temperature  than  the  earth,  and  preserve,  for  that 
reason,  a  proportionate  uniformity  whenever  their  influence  can  be  felt, 
moderating  the  cold  as  well  as  the  heat.     A  cold  wind  passing  over 
the  surface  of  the  ocean  becomes  somewhat  heated,  and  in  turn  a  hot 
wind  becomes  cooler.     That  is  why  the  climate   of   islands  and  of 
countries  bordering  on  the  ocean,  is  more  uniform  than  that  of  coun- 
tries situated  at  a  great  distance  from  the  sea,  and  such  countries  also 
enjoy  more  moderate  winters,  and  their  summers  are  cooler. 

We  may  state,  for  example,  that  the  average  temperature  of  Eng- 
land, which  is  an  island,  is  about  65°  in  summer  and  about  37°  in 
winter,  which  merely  gives  a  difference  of  26°,  whilst  the  average  tem- 
perature of  Pekin,  removed  from  the  sea,  is  79°  in  summer  and  23°  in 
winter,  which  gives  a  difference  of  56°. 

5.  The  Inclination  which  the  Country  Bears  to  the  Course  of  the  Sun. — 
The  angle  at  which  the  sun's  rays  fall  on  a  locality,  and  consequently 
its  heating  power,  varies  according  to  the  position  of  the  soil  of  such 
locality.     When  the  sun  is  45°  above  the  horizon,  its  rays  must  fall 
perpendicularly  on  the  side  of  a  hill  looking  towards  the  south,  and 
forming  likewise  an  angle  of  45°  :  whilst  the  plain  below  the  hill  will 
receive  the  sun's  rays  at  an  angle  of  45°. 

6.  The  Geological  Character  of  the  Soil. — The  kind  of  soil  of  a  locality 
has  a  great  influence  on  the  climate,  principally  on  account  of  its 
greater  or  less  adaptability  to  irradiate  the  heat.     Sandy  soil  is  heated 
easily  and  quickly,  and  when  the  sun's  rays  do  not  fall  on  it  it  irra- 
diates easily  and  thereby  communicates  a  portion  of  its  heat  to  the 
atmosphere.     Earthy  soil,  on  the  contrary,  absorbs  less  easily  the  heat, 
and  irradiates  it  more  slowly,  and  so  it  communicates  less  heat  to  the 
atmosphere.     Marshy  lands  and  forests  cool  the  air. 

7.  The  Degree  of  Cultivation  of  the  Soil. — Cutting  or  grading  and  the 
reclaiming  of  marshy  lands  renders  warmer  the  temperature  of  a  local- 
ity.    The  complete  destruction  of  forests  may  be  fatal  to  a  region 
because  thereby  it  may  be  deprived  of  a  protection  against  certain 
winds,  or  diminish  humidity  in  a  greater  scale,  be  it  through  the  de- 
crease in  the  rainfall  in  places  having  no  vegetation,  or  because  the 
evaporation  of  the  leaves  of  vegetable  matter  ceases. 

8.  Prevailing  Winds. — The  winds  prevailing  in  a  locality  have  great 
influence  on  its  temperature.     The  winds  may  be  cold  or  warm,  ac- 
cording to  the  place  whence  they  come  and  the  kind  of  surface  over 


364   Coffee  Culture  on  tbe  Soutbern  Coast  of  Cbiapas, 

which  they  may  pass.  In  the  northern  hemisphere,  as  a  general  rule, 
the  winds  coming  from  the  north  are  cold,  and  those  coming  from  the 
south  hot. 

9.  The  Quantity  of  Annual  Rainfall. — Rains  have  great  influence 
over  the  temperature  of  a  locality,  as  they  render  it  more  or  less  humid 
or  damp.  As  a  general  rule  a  greater  amount  of  rain  falls  on  islands  and 
on  the  coast  than  in  districts  far  removed  from  the  sea,  in  the  moun- 
tains than  in  the  valleys,  within  the  tropics  than  outside  of  them. 

The  amount  of  rainfall  in  a  locality  does  not  depend  merely  on  its 
latitude,  but  on  other  circumstances,  as,  for  instance,  the  vicinity  of 
high  mountains  abounding  in  trees,  because  elevations  as  well  as  vege- 
tation attract  clouds  impregnated  with  water,  and  produce  rain.  The 
rainfall  also  depends  on  prevailing  winds  ;  when  the  latter  pass  over 
the  sea  they  retain  a  large  quantity  of  water  in  the  form  of  vapor, 
which  dampens  the  atmosphere  or  converts  it  into  rain. 

CONTROVERSY    ABOUT    THE    TEHUANTEPEC    LANDS   FOR    COFFEE. 

The  India- Rubber  World,  New  York,  October  15,  1893  : 
To  the  Editor  of  the  "India-Rubber  World  ": 

I  read  with  a  great  deal  of  interest  in  a  recent  number  of  your  journal,  Mr.  F.  O. 
Harriman's  articles  on  "  Rubber- Planting  on  the  Isthmus  of  Tehuantepec,"  and  I  am 
glad  to  see  that  he  is  so  much  pleased  with  his  location  at  Jaltipan.  While  I  think 
that  Jaltipan  is  a  very  good  location  for  rubber-planting,  and  with  but  one  exception 
agree  with  everything  he  says  in  this  regard,  I  am  afraid  that  he  is  mistaken  in  con- 
sidering that  coffee  and  rubber  can  grow  well  on  the  same  ground,  or  rather,  that  low 
hot  lands  are  the  best  for  coffee.  In  my  opinion  there  is  no  land  hot  enough  for  India- 
rubber,  or,  rather,  the  hotter  the  temperature  the  better  it  is,  provided,  of  course,  that 
it  is  moist  or  damp.  But  not  so  with  coffee,  which,  in  my  opinion,  requires  a  temper- 
ate climate,  where  it  will  not  freeze.  The  mere  fact  that  coffee-trees  cannot  grow 
at  Jaltipan  without  shade,  shows  in  my  judgment  that  that  zone  is  not  the  proper  one 
for  coffee-growing,  since  it  requires  an  artificial  reduction  of  temperature.  You  can 
grow  pine-apples  in  St.  Petersburg,  Russia,  but  only  in  a  hot-house, — that  is,  by  in- 
creasing artificially  the  temperature, — the  only  difference  being  that  in  one  case  you 
increase  and  in  the  other  reduce  the  temperature.  For  commercial  purposes,  it  will 
not  do  to  change  the  conditions  of  nature,  as  the  cost  of  production  will  be  very  much 
increased  when  you  have  to  use  artificial  means  to  alter  the  climatic  conditions  of  a 
place.  I  have  had  a  great  deal  of  personal  experience  in  coffee-planting,  and  I  am 
sure  that  I  am  right  in  this  view  of  it,  and  if  necessary,  could  demonstrate  it  very 
clearly. 

If  Mr.  Harriman's  estimate  about  the  yield  per  coffee-tree  in  Jaltipan  is  correct, 
the  place  must  be  exceptionally  good  for  coffee-raising.  The  yield  per  tree  depends 
mainly  on  the  zone  the  trees  are  planted  in.  When  they  are  planted  in  the  hot  zone, 
the  medium  yield  is  from  4  to  8  ounces  per  tree,  and  when  in  the  temperate  zone  about 
one  pound  per  tree.  Isolated  trees  planted  near  houses  where  they  have  better  care 
and  manure,  may  be  found  yielding  in  the  hot  zone  even  8  pounds,  but  they  are 
exceptional  cases,  and  could  not  be  taken  as  a  basis  for  the  yield  of  a  large  plantation. 
One  pound  per  tree  is  a  very  good  yield,  as  an  average.  The  expenses  of  keeping  the 
plantation  and  gathering  the  crop  are  also  smaller  in  the  temperate  than  in  the  hot 


ffitness  of  tbe  Uebuantepec  SLanDs  for  Coffee*     365 

I  do  not  agree  with  Mr.  Harriman  in  his  assertion  that  the  India-rubber  trees  re- 
quire shade  while  young.  If  he  takes  from  the  woods  small  plants  which  have  grown 
in  the  shade,  and  transplants  them  on  cleared  ground,  it  is  likely  that  they  will  not 
stand  the  heat,  especially  as  they  suffer  a  great  deal  from  transplanting,  even  when 
that  operation  is  done  under  the  best  circumstances.  But  if  he  sows  the  seeds  in  a 
nursery  without  shade  and  they  spring  up  without  shade,  he  will  find  that  they  come 
stronger  and  stouter,  and  if  he  then  transplants  them  to  their  final  location,  he  will  see 
that  they  do  not  need  any  shade  at  all,  and  that  the  young  plants  grow  more  rapidly 
and  stronger  without  shade.  Very  truly  yours, 

M.  ROMERO. 
WASHINGTON,  D.  C., 
September  25 ',  1893. 

The  India- Rubber  World,  New  York,  December  (Friday)  15,  1893  : 

RUBBER  SHADE  FOR  COFFEE  PLANTATIONS. 

By  F.  0.  Harriman,  C.E. 

To  the  Editor  of  the  "  India-Rubber  World"  : 

The  communication  from  Senor  Romero  in  the  issue  of  your  journal  for  October 
I5th,  on  the  subject  of  planting  rubber  and  coffee  in  conjunction,  contains  ideas  so  det- 
rimental to  the  coffee  interests  of  the  isthmus  district  that  I  feel  bound,  though  not 
wishing  to  take  issue  publicly  with  Senor  Romero,  to  say  something  further  in  the 
same  connection.  The  eyes  of  the  world  are  fixed  upon  the  Isthmus  of  Tehuantepec 
as  a  connecting  link  in  the  highway  of  commerce  between  the  Atlantic  and  the  Pacific, 
and  its  consequent  advantage  of  soon  being  within  easy  reach  of  the  entire  world  ;  and 
coffee-growing  is  daily  becoming  more  and  more  important  in  the  development  of  this 
section.  As  T  have  tried  to  point  out  in  your  pages  heretofore,  India-rubber  may  be 
made  a  factor  in  profitably  extending  this  industry.  Hence  my  continued  attention  to 
the  subject. 

Coffee,  wherever  planted  on  the  Isthmus  of  Tehuantepec,  and  also  on  the  foot- 
hills and  Atlantic  plains  of  the  States  of  Vera  Cruz  and  Tabasco,  requires  shade  ;  even 
the  old  plantations  of  the  Cordoba  and  Jalapa  districts  were  shaded  to  a  greater  or  less 
extent,  and  at  present,  even  in  these  altitudes,  much  rubber  will  be  found  for  this 
purpose.  From  the  Mexican  Trader  Handbook  No.  I,  Coffee-Growing  in  Mexico, 
by  J.  P.  Taylor,  I  quote  as  follows  (page  26) : 

44  Shade. — According  to  Mr.  Hugo  Finck,  the  coffee-tree  requires  shade  up  to  the 
altitude  of  from  3000  to  3500  feet  above  the  level  of  the  sea.  From  3500  to  5000  feet 
shade  is  not  absolutely  necessary,  although  the  coffee-trees  which  have  it  live  longer, 
but  their  product  is  less.  At  Cordoba,  Jalapa,  and  other  districts  in  the  State  of  Vera- 
cruz, the  banana-tree  is  the  favorite  one  for  shade,  but,  as  Mr.  Finck  says,  it  is  a  tree 
which  so  rapidly  exhausts  the  soil  that  coffee-trees  beneath  it  do  not  bear  more  than 
eight  or  ten  years.  Mr.  Julio  Rossignon  gives  it  as  his  opinion  that  the  method  which 
some  planters  employ  of  shading  their  coffee-trees  with  bananas  is  a  bad  one.  The 
banana,  while  it  maintains  humidity  in  the  soil,  takes  too  much  of  the  richness  out  of 
the  earth.  On  the  other  hand,  in  the  return  rendered  the  government  by  the  city 
council  of  Jalapa,  the  banana  is  recommended  as  the  best  tree  for  shade,  on  the  ground 
that  it  has  the  property  of  attracting  to  itself  such  moisture  as  may  be  in  the  atmos- 
phere, thus  bestowing  freshness  and  luxuriance  upon  the  coffee-plant  which  it  covers. 
There  can  be  no  doubt,  however,  that  the  banana  is  selected  as  a  shade-tree  chiefly 
because  it  bears  valuable  fruit,  which,  on  the  Mexican  or  inter-oceanic  railways,  readily 
realizes  from  $r  to  $1.25  per  arroba  (25  pounds).  Beside  the  banana,  the  orange,  the 


366  Coffee  Culture  on  tbe  Soutbern  Coast  of  Cbiapas, 

lime-tree,  aguacate,  walnut,  mamey-tree,  castor-oil  plant,  the  fig,  and  the  rubber-tree, 
as  well  as  a  host  of  others,  are  found  in  the  State  of  Veracruz  as  shade  for  the  coffee- 
tree.  All  the  trees  specifically  mentioned  yield  more  or  less  valuable  fruit,  and  they 
are  thus  desirable  on  their  own  account,  apart  from  their  shading  services." 

In  the  valley  of  the  Coatzacoalcos  River,  the  proper  northern  part  of  the  Isthmus 
of  Tehuantepec,  coffee-growing  is  no  new  experiment,  having  been  carried  on  since  the 
time  of  the  French  colonists  settling  there  in  1829-32,  and  even  at  present  there  exist 
remains  of  some  of  these  old  plantations  in  the  towns  of  Jaltipan,  Soconusco  (Santa 
Ana),  Acayucan,  Hidalgotitlan,  and  many  places  on  the  banks  of  the  Coatzacoalcos 
and  Uspanapa  rivers  ;  but  invariably  they  all  are  shaded,  and  of  the  new  plantations, 
many  bearing  and  shaded  by  rubber-trees,  exactly  as  good  results  are  given  in  yield  of 
coffee  as  when  shaded  by  jonote,  coscalite,  cocuite,  and  other  shade-trees.  In  this  dis- 
trict the  good  result  is  proved  by  actual  experience  and  existing  examples ;  it  is  no 
theory  waiting  for  development.  In  a  plantation  thus  formed  with  rubber  shade,  when 
the  conditions  will  allow,  the  cost  of  production  of  coffee  is  not  increased,  as  Seiior 
Romero  states,  for  the  rubber  forms  a  greater  producing  factor  than  the  coffee  itself, 
and  the  same  extension  of  ground  planted  in  coffee  with  and  without  rubber  shade- 
trees,  will  give  more  than  a  double  revenue  in  the  former  case  ;  or,  the  capitalized 
value  of  the  plantation  in  the  former  case  is  more  than  double  what  it  is  in  the  latter, 
with  hardly  an  imperceptible  difference  in  cost  of  forming  plantations. 

It  is  not  on  account  of  an  excessive  heat  on  the  isthmus  that  the  shading  of  coffee 
is  necessary.  From  the  pass  of  Chi  vela  in  the  Sierra  Madre  to  the  gulf  coast  the  ex- 
treme temperature  is  between  99°  and  57°  F.  In  a  letter  on  this  subject  from  Coatza- 
coalcos, dated  August  17,  1880,  Mr.  Martin  Van  Brocklin,  late  chief  engineer  of  the 
Metropolitan  Elevated  Railroad  Company  of  New  York,  and  at  the  time  chief  engineer 
of  the  Tehuantepec  Railroad,  says  :  "  The  thermometer  hanging  in  my  office  has  not 
been  above  85°  F.  since  July  10,  when  it  reached  88°,  nor  has  it  been  much  more  than 
10°  below  these  figures,"  and  this  was  during  a  portion  of  the  hottest  season  of  the 
year,  and  Coatzacoalcos  is  the  hottest  portion  of  the  northern  division  of  the  isthmus. 

The  shading  of  coffee  is  necessary  on  account  of  the  continued  dry  southern  winds, 
prevailing  during  March  and  April,  which,  in  addition  to  the  sun's  rays,  will  com- 
pletely bake  the  ground  and  exhaust  the  moisture,  and  small  plants,  if  not  protected, 
succumb  to  the  combined  influence  of  these  elements.  The  isthmus,  on  account  of  the 
great  depression  of  the  Sierra  Madre, — only  some  900  feet  at  this  point,  but  rising 
very  abruptly  on  both  sides, — feels  the  effect  of  the  south  winds  as  no  other  part  of 
Mexico  on  the  Atlantic  slope.  Through  the  effect  of  the  same  topographical  condi- 
tions, by  causing  a  continuous  circulation  of  air  currents  from  ocean  to  ocean,  there  is 
given  to  this  region  a  cooler  and  more  salubrious  climate  than  is  encountered  in  any 
other  part  of  Mexico  or  Central  America  included  within  the  tropics  at  the  same 
altitude. 

Rubber  should  be  planted  from  the  seed,  which  falls  in  April  and  May,  or  from 
young  plants  from  a  nursery,  at  the  beginning  of  the  rainy  season,  in  order  to  be  well 
rooted  to  resist  the  effects  of  the  dry  season.  At  the  time  of  planting  the  prevailing 
rains  are  generally  severe  showers  of  short  duration,  with  afterwards  an  almost  instan- 
taneous hot  sun.  Hence,  if  the  young  plants  are  not  protected  by  some  light  shade,  a 
considerable  proportion  of  the  rubber-plants  is  sure  to  be  scalded.  It  is  true  that  the 
rubber  afterwards  thickens  in  the  trunk  quicker  in  the  open,  but  the  coffee  must  have 
shade  in  the  dry  season,  and  unless  rubber  be  planted  three  years  before,  some  other 
shade  is  necessary,  and  low  trees  like  bananas,  planted  properly,  retard  the  growth  of 
rubber  very  little. 

JALTIPAN,  VERA  CRUZ,  MEXICO 
October  30,  1893. 


jfitness  ot  tbe  Uebuantepec  Xante  for  Coffee*     367 

ANOTHER  RESPONSE  TO   SEftOR  ROMERO. 

To  the  Editor  of  the  "  India-Rubber  World"  : 

I  notice  with  surprise  the  criticisms  of  Senor  Romero,  in  relation  to  F.  O.  Hani- 
man's  experience  in  coffee  and  rubber  cultivation  on  the  isthmus  of  Tehuantepec,  as 
detailed  in  his  article  in  your  edition  of  August  i$th.  My  brother  has  had  an  almost 
continuous  experience  in  the  locality  mentioned  for  over  ten  years  past,  and  has  given 
the  subject  an  exhaustive  study,  in  connection  with  the  opportunities  afforded  him 
through  the  pursuits  of  his  profession  as  civil  engineer  engaged  in  locating  and  build- 
ing the  railroad  across  the  isthmus. 

That  the  lands  and  climate  of  this  locality  are  unusually  well  suited  to  the  culti- 
vation of  coffee,  a  number  of  plantations  in  the  neighborhood,  such  as  Pena  Blanca, 
Villa  Alta,  and  the  Boca  de  Chuniagoa,  can  testify. 

These  plantations  yield  per  tree  enormously  more  than  those  of  Cordova  and  the 
coffee-producing  districts  of  Oaxaca.  On  account  of  the  great  fertility  of  the  soil,  the 
trees  open  out  so  much  that  they  have  to  be  planted  three  and  four  yards  apart,  else  in 
four  years  they  would  completely  interlace.  The  trees  commence  to  bear  in  three 
years  after  first  setting  out,  and  when  in  full  bearing,  in  five  years,  will  yield  large 
amounts.  At  the  Pena  Blanca  plantation,  the  average  crop  is  3^  pounds  per  tree  ;  it 
is  of  a  very  superior  quality,  with  a  little  less  caricolilla  than  Cordova  or  Oaxaca,  per- 
haps, but  the  yield  per  tree  is  very  much  greater  than  in  those  districts,  where  only 
from  £  to  i£  pounds  per  tree  is  obtained,  and  naturally  it  will  be  a  great  deal  more  ad- 
vantageous to  cultivate  plantations  in  this  district. 

I  fail  to  grasp  the  pertinence  of  Senor  Romero's  suggestion  that  "  the  fact  that 
coffee-trees  cannot  grow  in  this  locality  without  shade,  shows  it  is  not  the  proper  zone 
for  coffee-growing."  This  fact  is  no  more  conclusive  than  the  fact  that  a  few  years 
ago,  when  the  railroad  construction  company  sent  3000  wheelbarrows  to  this  locality, 
the  native  Indians  employed  there  would  not  use  them  until  they  had  taken  out  the 
wheel  and  placed  a  man  at  each  end  of  the  barrow,  is  conclusive  that  nineteenth-cen- 
tury ideas  are  not  applicable  to  labor  in  this  district. 

The  simple  fact  that  it  has  been  the  custom  until  recently  to  cultivate  coffee  only 
at  a  higher  elevation  above  the  sea-level  than  this  valley,  seems  to  me  to  offer  no  valid 
reason  for  not  accepting  the  much  greater  yield  of  the  product  attained  from  richness 
of  soil,  etc. ,  here  with  shade,  especially  when  the  product  of  the  shade-trees,  in  seven 
years  from  planting,  yields  a  larger  profit  than  the  coffee-trees  even,  and  divides  the 
expense  of  maintenance. 

For  commercial  purposes,  it  -will  do  "to  change  the  conditions  of  nature,"  as 
illustrated  by  the  reclaiming  of  large  tracts  of  the  "  great  American  desert,"  by  arti- 
ficial irrigation,  and  the  deepening  of  the  outlets  of  numerous  rivers  by  jetties  recently 
constructed.  I  see  no  reason  for  declining  to  adopt  modern  ideas  for  the  cultivation 
of  coffee  and  rubber  in  conjunction  when  the  outlook  is  so  promising. 

J.  P.  HARRIMAN. 

WOONSOCKET,  R.  I.,  November  9,  1883. 

The  India-Rubber  World,  February  15,  1894  : 

AN  ANSWER   FROM    SESOR   ROMERO. 

To  the  Editor  of  the  "  India-Rubber  World"  : 

I  have  seen  in  your  issue  of  December  isth,  a  communication  from  Mr.  F.  O. 
Harriman,  C.E.,  dated  at  Jaltipan,  Veracruz,  Mexico,  on  October  3oth  last,  com- 
menting on  my  letter  published  in  your  October  number,  in  which  I  criticised  his 
former  article  about  his  Tehuantepec  India-rubber  and  coffee  plantations. 


368   Coffee  Culture  on  tbe  Soutbern  Coast  of  Cbiapas. 

You  know  very  well  that  my  letter  was  not  written  for  publication,  and  that  I 
only  consented  to  its  insertion  in  your  paper  after  your  solicitation,  and  because  I 
supposed  that  the  discussion  of  this  important  subject  would  do  some  good  to  the 
public  at  large,  and  especially  to  the  coffee  and  India-rubber  industries  in  Mexico. 
Far  from  having  any  intention  detrimental  to  any  of  those  industries,  my  well-known 
interest  in  both  of  them  made  me  write  my  letter,  as  I  think  I  am  the  originator  and 
promoter  of  India-rubber  planting  in  Mexico,  and  I  have  given  a  great  deal  of  my 
time— at  least  two  consecutive  years— to  coffee-culture,  having  started  myself  a  coffee 
and  an  India-rubber  plantation  in  the  State  of  Chiapas,  in  southeastern  Mexico. 

Perhaps  I  was  too  sweeping  in  my  remarks  about  coffee-planting  in  the  Isthmus 
of  Tehuantepec,  due  to  the  fact  that  my  official  duties  at  this  capital  leave  me  very 
little  time  to  consider  carefully  and  maturely  other  subjects,  and  that  my  letter  to  you 
was  for  that  reason  written  in  great  haste.  What  I  meant  to  say, — because  I  am  con- 
vinced of  it  by  experience  and  study, — is  that  hot  lands  are  not  the  best  for  coffee,  and 
that  as  a  general  rule  low  lands  are  hot,  and  in  the  Isthmus  of  Tehuantepec  lands  are 
low.  As  Mr.  Harriman  says  the  highest  elevation  is  only  900  feet  above  the  level  ot 
the  sea,  I  concluded  that  they  could  not  be  the  best  lands  for  coffee. 

But  Mr.  Harriman  states  in  his  last  letter  that  the  lands  on  the  isthmus  are  not 
hot,  and  as  he  knows  them  well  and  I  have  only  passed  through  some  of  them, — never 
having  been  at  Jaltipan, — his  lands  may  be  very  good  and  perhaps  the  best  for  coffee, 
and  I  sincerely  hope  they  are  so,  as  I  have  the  best  wishes  for  his  success,  as  well  as 
for  the  success  of  anybody  else  who  would  contribute  to  the  development  of  the  coffee 
industry  in  Mexico,  which  I  think  is  one  of  the  greatest  sources  of  wealth  in  that 
country. 

As  is  well  known,  the  temperature  of  a  place  depends  on  several  factors,  the 
principal  one  being  its  elevation  above  the  level  of  the  sea  ;  but  this  factor  may  be 
affected  or  even  changed  by  others,  like  the  currents  of  air,  dampness,  etc.  The  at- 
mospheric conditions  of  Jaltipan,  as  described  by  Mr.  Harriman,  doubtless  may  give 
that  place,  located  900  feet  above  the  sea-level,  a  temperature  corresponding  in  other 
localities  to  a  much  higher  elevation  (say  from  5000  to  5  500  feet),  which  I  think  is  the 
best  location  for  coffee-culture.  I  am  sure,  too,  that  the  great  currents  of  air  passing 
through  the  isthmus  of  Tehuantepec,  which  Mr.  Harriman  describes  so  well,  and 
which  I  have  experienced  while  passing  through  that  isthmus,  will  dry  the  land,  and 
may  make  it  necessary  to  use  shade  for  the  coffee-trees  when  they  are  young  and  when 
most  of  the  surface  of  the  land  would  be  exposed  to  the  winds  ;  but  even  in  that  case 
I  should  think  that  when  the  coffee-trees  are  grown,  and  they  shade  the  ground  with 
their  own  leaves,  the  yield  of  the  plantation  per  tree  would  be  increased  by  pulling 
down  the  shade-trees. 

I  am  still  firmly  of  the  opinion  that  as  a  general  rule,  recognizing  of  course  that 
there  may  be  exceptions  to  the  rule  itself,  but  not  to  its  principle,  coffee  is  the  product 
of  temperate  and  not  of  hot  climates, — and  that  it  is  better  therefore  to  plant  it  high 
rather  than  low.  Mr.  Taylor's  quotation  of  Mr.  Hugo  Finck's  opinion,  quoted  by 
Mr.  F.  O.  Harriman,  to  the  effect  that  coffee-trees  need  shade  when  planted  below 
from  3000  to  3500  feet,  and  do  not  need  it  when  planted  higher,  I  rather  think  con- 
firms my  theory. 

I  have  also  read  Mr.  J.  P.  Harriman's  letter,  dated  at  Woonsocket,  R.  I.,  No- 
vember gth,  published  in  the  same  issue  of  your  journal,  commenting  on  my  previous 
communication  on  this  subject.  My  remarks  already  made  to  the  other  letter  will 
answer  his,  and  I  will  only  add  that  if  coffee-trees  yield  in  Jaltipan  or  around  there 
3^  pounds  per  tree,  as  he  says  they  average  at  the  Pena  Blanca  plantations,  I  would 
not  hesitate  in  saying  that  the  isthmus  lands  are  the  best  in  the  world  for  coffee- 
raising,  as  what  I  consider  the  best  lands  in  Mexico  for  that  industry  do  not  average 


jf itness  of  tbe  Uebuantepec  %anfcs  for  Coffee.     369 

in  a  large  plantation  more  than  one  pound  per  tree  per  crop,  although  individual  trees 
may  yield  considerably  more.  Nobody  will  be  happier  than  myself  if  such  is  the  fact, 
as  I  feel  such  a  great  interest  in  the  development  of  that  industry  in  Mexico. 

To  Mr.  F.  O.  Harriman  and  his  associates,  should  he  have  any,  I  would  venture 
to  say, — should  they  allow  me  to  volunteer  my  advice, — go  on  with  your  plantation 
and  increase  it  as  much  as  you  can,  being  sure  that  if  the  yield  is  such  as  expected,  you 
have  the  best  coffee-lands  in  Mexico,  and  possibly  the  best  in  the  world.  But  should 
you  for  any  reason  be  mistaken  in  that  regard,  I  would  advise  you  still  to  go  on,  as  a 
plantation  already  begun,  when  the  land  has  been  secured  and  there  is  sufficient  labor, 
is  far  better,  even  in  case  it  has  not  the  best  conditions  as  compared  with  others  which 
would  be  only  imaginary  ones.  Coffee  production  is  such  a  lucrative  business  that  it 
will  yield  very  large  profits,  even  in  case  it  is  not  undertaken  under  the  best  con- 
ditions. 

Mr.  J.  P.  Harriman  asserts  that  coffee  has  heretofore  been  planted  in  high  lands, 
and  considers  that  planting  it  in  low  lands,  which  are  generally  more  fertile,  shows  a 
great  improvement,  and  mentions  in  support  of  his  theory  an  experiment  to  introduce 
wheelbarrows  in  Tehuantepec,  the  reclaiming  of  large  tracts  of  the  "  great  American 
desert  "  by  artificial  irrigation,  and  of  deepening  shallow  rivers  by  constructing  jetties. 
To  my  knowledge  coffee  has  been  planted  so  far  almost  exclusively  in  the  low  lands, 
and  it  is  only  recently  and  in  a  few  places  where  its  culture  is  more  advanced,  and 
experience  has  shown  the  advantages  of  high  lands,  that  these  are  preferred. 

Nobody  could  deny  that  men  can  through  industry  and  labor  assist  nature  very 
materially  in  the  discharge  of  its  functions,  as  it  is  the  case  in  manuring  worn-out 
land,  in  irrigating  arid  tracts,  which  otherwise  would  be  unproductive,  etc.,  but  I  per- 
ceive a  great  difference  between  assisting  the  forces  of  nature  and  trying  to  change 
them.  When  a  crop  is  cultivated  out  of  its  own  natural  zone,  I  think  the  effort  is  in 
the  second  direction.  Even  in  case  of  man's  industry  assisting  the  forces  of  nature,  I 
imagine  it  is  better  to  use  land  which  requires  no  such  assistance.  I  would  make  a 
farm  of  virgin  land,  rather  than  of  worn-out  land  which  needs  to  be  manured,  and  of 
a  moist  land  needing  no  irrigation,  than  of  arid  land  which  cannot  be  productive 
without  irrigation,  all  other  circumstances  being  equal. 

I  do  not  understand  the  hint  to  wheelbarrows  in  Tehuantepec,  unless  it  is  to  com- 
pare me  with  the  native  Indians  who  would  not  use  them  until  they  had  taken  out  the 
wheels  and  placed  a  man  at  each  end  of  the  barrow.  I  am  as  firm  a  believer  in  prog- 
ress as  Mr.  Harriman  can  be,  and  I  do  not  think  my  views  on  coffee  culture  are 
inconsistent  with  progress,  but  should  I  be  mistaken  I  will  be  glad  to  acknowledge  my 
error  when  I  am  satisfied  that  I  have  made  any,  as  I  am  always  open  to  conviction  and 
I  think  it  is  honorable  for  anybody  to  recognize  his  own  mistakes. 

M.  ROMERO. 

WASHINGTON,  D.  C.,  December  16,  1893. 

After  my  paper  on  coffee  culture  was  writtten,  I  received  a  very 
interesting  publication  on  coffee  culture  in  Brazil  entitled  Monographia 
do  Caft  Historia,  Cultura  e  Producfdo,  by  Paulo  Porlo-Alegre,  pub- 
lished in  Lisbon,  in  1879,  which  contains  valuable  information  on  the 
coffee  culture  in  that  country.  I  am  sorry  that  I  have  not  the  time 
to  compare  the  culture  of  coffee  in  Brazil  with  the  way  in  which  it  is 
cultivated  in  Mexico  and  Guatemala. 


INDIA-RUBBER  CULTURE  IN  MEXICO, 


371 


INTRODUCTION. 

All  that  I  said  in  the  introduction  of  this  book,  referring  to  coffee 
culture  in  Mexico,  applies  to  India-rubber  culture.  When  in  1872,  I 
made  a  long  trip  of  inspection  to  several  of  the  Mexican  States  for 
the  purpose  of  studying  the  agricultural  resources  of  the  country  and 
selecting  some  branch  of  it  which  would  be  pleasant  and  profitable  to  ap- 
ply myself  to,  together  with  a  desirable  location,  and  visited  Soconusco, 
I  was  very  much  struck  with  the  great  future  of  the  India-rubber 
culture,  and  I  became  satisfied  that  it  was  the  most  lucrative  branch 
of  agriculture  that  could  then  possibly  be  undertaken. 

On  that  occasion  I  remained  about  four  months  in  Soconusco  and 
studied  almost  exclusively  the  India-rubber  tree,  and  it  seemed  to  me 
so  promising  that  I  fully  made  up  my  mind  to  undertake  a  plantation 
of  such  trees,  and  on  my  return  to  the  City  of  Mexico,  in  December, 
1872,  for  the  purpose  of  closing  my  affairs  there  and  moving  my  resi- 
dence to  Tapachula,  the  county-seat  of  Soconusco,  I  decided  to  give 
to  my  countrymen  the  benefit  of  my  studies  and  experience,  or  rather 
surmises  about  India-rubber  culture,  and  I  consequently  published  a 
paper  entitled,  ' '  Importance  of  India- Rubber  Culture  in  the  Future  of 
Mexico, ' '  in  which  I  tried  to  present  what  I  had  gathered,  and  to  give 
a  clear  idea  of  the  profits  of  that  culture  in  Mexico,  and  of  the  advan- 
tages of  Soconusco  for  the  same. 

My  paper  on  this  subject  differs  from  the  one  on  coffee,  especially 
from  the  fact  that  when  I  wrote  the  latter,  coffee  raising  was  an  in- 
dustry already  established,  and  of  which  one  could  speak  from  ex- 
perience, while  India-rubber  planting  was  not  in  existence  anywhere  in 
the  world  that  I  knew  of,  and  therefore  nobody  could  lay  down  with 
certainty  the  true  principles  of  the  same,  and  any  surmises,  however 
plausible  and  reasonable,  could  not  be  supported  by  experience. 

On  returning  to  Soconusco  in  1873  to  make  there  my  permanent 
abode,  I  purchased  a  very  desirable  piece  of  land,  of  about  25,000 
acres,  bounded  by  the  Pacific  on  the  south,  and  by  two  large  rivers, 
the  Zuchiate  on  the  east,  and  the  Caohuacan  on  the  west,  at  a  distance 
of  about  ten  miles  apart,  where  a  great  many  India-rubber  trees  had 

373 


374  1Tn&ia*1Rubber  Culture  in  flDejfco, 

previously  been  grown  wild  and  the  large  ones  had  been  destroyed  by 
the  rubber  gatherers,  a  fact  showing,  in  my  opinion,  that  it  was  the 
best  place  for  that  culture.  I  planted  about  100,000  trees,  having  to 
contend  with  the  scarcity  of  hands,  and  with  the  great  difficulty  of 
bringing  laborers  there,  because  it  was  somewhat  removed  from  any 
settlement,  the  climate  warm  and  productive  of  intermittent  fevers,  and 
there  being,  besides,  a  great  number  of  mosquitoes. 

In  1875  my  trees  were  prospering  and  in  a  very  satisfactory  con- 
dition; but  as  I  had  to  abandon  the  place  at  that  time,  when  the  trees 
developed,  the  natives  tapped  them,  destroying  them  as  they  do  with 
the  large  wild  trees,  and  I  could  not  therefore  have  the  advantage  of 
the  experience  drawn  from  my  plantation. 

I  have  not  heard  of  any  plantation  on  a  larger  scale  being  made  in 
Mexico,  except  one  on  the  southern  coast  of  Oaxaca,  called  ' '  Esmer- 
alda,"  which  I  have  not  seen,  and  of  which  I  have  not  reliable 
information. 

Extracts  from  my  paper  on  the  India-rubber  culture  in  Mexico 
were  published  in  English  by  the  India-Rubber  World,  of  New  York, 
in  its  issue  of  April  15,  1893. 

The  demand  for  India-rubber  has  increased  considerably  since  my 
paper  was  written,  while  the  supply  is  necessarily  diminishing.  Every 
day  new  applications  are  being  made  of  that  material,  as,  for  instance, 
tires  for  bicycles,  carriages,  and  wagons,  all  of  which  result  in  a 
much  larger  consumption  of  that  article.  In  the  Para  regions,  the 
main  source  of  the  supply,  the  wild  India-rubber  trees  near  the  rivers 
have  been  destroyed,  although  new  ones  are  growing  up,  and  it  will  be 
more  difficult  and  expensive  to  go  to  the  interior  to  tap  the  trees,  so 
that  the  wild  India-rubber  trees  are  being  put  to  contribution  in  other 
regions  like  Asia  and  Africa,  for  the  purpose  of  supplying  the  demand. 
The  price  has  consequently  increased  and  a  good  quality  of  rubber, 
such  as  is  produced  in  Mexico,  is  now  sold  at  $i  per  pound. 

The  United  States  Consuls  in  America,  Asia,  and  Africa  sent  re- 
ports to  the  Department  of  State,  during  the  years  1890  and  1891, 
in  answer  to  a  circular  addressed  by  the  same,  asking  for  information 
on  India-rubber  culture  in  the  tropical  regions  of  the  world,  and  they 
all  were  published  in  a  volume  of  250  pages  (Special  Consular  Report 
on  India-Rubber,  1892),  which  contains  very  interesting  information  on 
the  rubber  culture  in  Brazil,  India,  and  Africa.  Unfortunately  this 
information  came  after  my  paper  had  been  written  and  published,  for 
which  I  am  sorry,  for  had  I  had  such  data,  I  could  have  enriched  my 
article  very  materially  with  important  matter  ;  but  I  was  very  much 
pleased  to  see  that  the  cardinal  points  which  I  laid  down  about  India- 
rubber  culture  are  the  same  as  those  considered  the  safest  in  their 
case. 


fntrofcuction.  375 

I  saw  in  the  India- Rubber  World  of  New  York,  of  March  15,  1894, 
that  a  valuable  book  on  india-rubber  had  been  published  in  Colombo, 
Ceylon,  by  A.  M.  &  J.  Ferguson,  in  1887,  entitled  India-Rubber  and 
Gutta-Percha:  Being  a  Compilation  of  all  the  Available  Information  Re- 
specting the  Trees  Yielding  these  Articles  of  Commerce  and  their  Cultiva- 
tion" and  that  is  the  first  intimation  I  had  of  any  book  on  that  subject. 
I  am  sorry  that  I  have  not  the  time  to  compare  the  information  con- 
tained in  that  book  with  my  surmises  about  India-rubber  culture. 

I  am  also  sorry  that  my  present  duties  should  preclude  my  revising 
this  paper,  which  I  publish  now  exactly  as  it  came  out  over  a  quarter  of  a 
century  ago.  All  I  could  at  present  add  is  that  the  estimate  of  the 
cost  of  a  plantation,  while  perfectly  reliable  in  1872,  would  be  subject 
to  serious  changes,  for  the  reasons  stated  in  the  introduction  to  Coffee 
Culture  in  Mexico.  In  so  far  as  the  profits  are  concerned,  I  would  be 
still  more  conservative,  and  reduce  them  very  materially. 

As  I  am  the  only  one  who  has  written  on  India-rubber  culture  in 
Mexico,  and  have  studied  the  subject  as  far  as  it  was  possible  under 
the  circumstances,  I  have  received  frequent  calls  for  my  paper  on  the 
subject,  especially  from  citizens  of  the  United  States,  and  to  satisfy 
their  demands,  I  have  decided  to  give  to  the  public  the  following  article 
on  the  subject,  without  revising  it  in  any  way. 

WASHINGTON,  D.  C.,  February  24,  1898. 


THE  INDIA-RUBBER  CULTURE  IN  MEXICO. 

i. 

INTRODUCTION. 

It  is  with  a  feeling  of  extreme  diffidence  that  I  undertake  to  write 
upon  a  subject  on  which  I  can  only  speak  as  a  layman,  inasmuch  as 
neither  my  few  studies  nor  my  habitual  occupations  have  initiated  me 
theoretically  or  practically  in  agriculture,  botany,  chemistry,  or  any 
other  of  the  sciences  a  knowledge  of  which  is  necessary  to  be  able  to 
speak  intelligently  of  a  branch  of  agricultural  industry  that  I  consider 
as  being  destined  to  attain  a  great  development  in  Mexico,  and  to  ex- 
ercise a  vast  influence  upon  its  future. 

My  desire  in  calling  the  attention  of  my  fellow-citizens  to  the  ex- 
ploitation of  a  source  of  wealth  which,  I  do  not  doubt,  will,  in  a  few 
years,  assure  their  future,  is  the  sole  motive  that  induces  me  to  write 
these  lines,  even  at  the  risk  of  sometimes  falling  into  an  error  of  more 
or  less  importance.  I  trust  that  this  explanation  will  serve  as  an  ex- 
cuse for  the  inaccuracies  which  may  be  found  in  this  paper,  and  I 
shall  consider  my  object  in  writing  it  attained,  if  competent  and  prac- 
tical persons  will  kindly  point  out  the  gaps  or  defects  that  must  be  in 
it,  so  that  the  subject  may  be  the  more  clearly  explained. 

As  another  excuse  for  the  insufficiency  of  this  paper,  however,  I 
think  it  proper  to  mention  the  scarcity  of  books  upon  the  subject. 
From  the  time  that  my  attention  was  first  called  to  the  importance  of 
the  culture  of  the  rubber-tree  in  Mexico,  I  endeavored  to  provide  my- 
self with  such  books  on  this  subject  as  might  have  been  published  in 
Europe  and  in  the  United  States.  I  applied  to  persons  in  New  York, 
and  to  the  principal  European  book-stores,  but  their  answers  were  that 
they  had  met  with  no  book  treating  of  the  rubber-plant.  In  some 
encyclopedias,  such  as  the  Encyclopedia  Britannica,  the  New  American 
Encyclopedia,  and  other  books  of  reference,  I  found  articles  concerning 
the  manufacture  of  rubber  rather  than  the  tree  that  produces  it. 

During  my  recent  travels  in  the  Eastern  States  of  Mexico,  I  en- 

377 


378  Un&ia*1Rubl)er  Culture  in 

deavored  to  obtain  all  the  data  possible  on  the  subject,  so  as  to  supply 
by  the  experience  of  others  and  my  own  limited  observation  what  I 
could  find  nowhere  else.  The  result  of  my  investigations  was  not  as 
complete  as  I  could  wish,  owing  to  the  fact  that  the  rubber-tree  not 
having  been  cultivated  in  those  localities,  no  experiments  as  to  its  de- 
velopment had  been  made;  and,  consequently,  there  are  only  con- 
jectures, more  or  less  well  founded,  concerning  it.  The  summing  up 
of  some  probable  conjectures  on  this  subject  is  what  I  shall  endeavor 
to  record  in  this  paper. 

II. 

DESCRIPTION  OF  THE  RUBBER-TREE—BOTANICAL  NAME— CHEMI- 
CAL ANALYSIS— SPECIFIC  GRAVITY  OF  RUBBER— WHEN  RUBBER 
WAS  FIRST  USED— VULCANIZED  RUBBER. 

The  tree  that  produces  rubber  belongs  to  the  family  of  Euphorbiacea 
trees,  shrubs,  and  grass  that  gives  a  milky  juice.  This  family  is  com- 
posed of  more  than  fifteen  hundred  species,  which  grow  principally  in 
intertropical  regions. 

Its  botanical  name  is  Jatropha  elastica,1  according  to  Linnaeus; 
Siphonia  elastica,  according  to  Persoon;  Siphonia  cahuchu,  according 
to  Screber  and  Wildenow;  Haevea  guianensis,  according  to  Aublet;  and 
Echites  corymbosa,  according  to  Jacquieu.  The  trees  called  Cecropia, 
Peltada,  Ficus  religiosa,  and  Indica  produce  a  substance  similar  to  rub- 
ber, but  inferior  to  it.  The  Asiatic  rubber-tree  called  Ficus  and  Urceola 
elastica^  grows  to  a  greater  size  than  the  American,  but  its  product  is 
inferior  in  quality  to  that  of  the  latter. 

M.  de  la  Condamine,  describing  the  rubber-trees  on  the  banks  of 
the  Amazon  River,  says  that  they  grow  rapidly,  are  perfectly  straight, 
have  branches  only  near  the  top,  and  cover  a  surface  of  not  more 
than  ten  feet. 

They  have  three  seeds  contained  in  a  pod  with  three  cells,  in  each 
of  which  there  is  a  kernel  which,  boiled  in  water,  produces  an  oil  that 
is  used  like  butter. 

1 1  find  in  the  Treasury  of  Botany,  edited  by  John  Lindley,  and  published  in 
London  in  1870,  that  there  are  four  species  of  India-rubber:  first,  Ficus  elastica; 
second,  Siphonia  elastica,  which  is  the  one  prevailing  in  Brazil  ;  third,  Castilloa  elas- 
tica, which  is  the  one  raised  in  Soconusco ;  and  fourth,  Unceola  elastica.  The  Cas- 
tilloa elastica  is  described  as  a  Mexican  tree  pertaining  to  the  Artocarpacea,  which  has 
masculine  and  feminine  flowers  on  the  same  branch.  The  masculine  flowers  have 
several  stems  inserted  in  a  semi-spherical  perianth,  the  feminine  flowerS  consisting  in 
several  ovaries  contained  in  a  cup. 

All  the  India-rubber  trees  that  I  have  seen  in  the  United  States  are  entirely  differ- 
ent from  those  which  grow  in  Mexico,  and  I  think  that  they  belong  to  the  Siphonia 
elastica  family. 


S>escrfptfon,  Bnal£sfs,  Specific  Gravity  of  IRubber,  &c*  379 

Father  Clavijero  says  that  rubber,  in  Mexican,  is  called  Olliu,  or 
Olli,  a  word  derived  from  Olquahuitl ;  that  it  is  a  tree  of  medium  size 
with  a  smooth  trunk  of  a  yellowish  color,  having  long  leaves,  white 
flowers,  and  a  yellow  fruit,  angular  in  shape,  containing  kernels  of  the 
size  of  a  nut,  white  and  with  a  yellowish  skin.  The  kernel  has  a  bitter 
taste  and  the  fruit  always  grows  close  to  the  bark.  He  also  says  that 
it  is  a  very  common  tree  in  Guatemala. 

I  have  seen  a  great  many  rubber-trees  in  Soconusco  and  in  the 
western  part  of  Guatemala  contiguous  to  Mexico  and  near  the  sea;  but 
they  were  nearly  all  small;  the  large  ones  had  been  cut  down  for 
reasons  which  will  be  mentioned  later.  There  is  a  great  difference 
between  the  size  and  shape  of  the  leaves  of  the  two  varieties;  both 
have  them  silky  and  of  a  deep  green;  the  small  trees  are  very  straight, 
without  leaves,  except  in  the  upper  part,  these  being  large,  hanging 
down  from  a  bough  like  a  stem,  and  the  bark  is  of  a  light  color. 

On  the  San  Carlos  farm  of  Mr.  Jeronimo  Manchinelli,  in  the  juris- 
diction of  Tuxtla  Chico,  in  the  Soconusco  district,  I  saw  three  trees 
that  the  owner  had  found  growing  on  the  place  when  he  took  posses- 
sion of  it,  thirty-one  years  ago,  and  which  he  thinks  cannot  be  less 
than  thirty-five  years  old.  They  are  of  an  enormous  size;  I  measured 
the  trunk  of  one  of  them;  it  was  two  metres  in  diameter,  and  the 
space  shaded  by  its  foliage  had  a  diameter  of  at  least  twenty  or  twenty- 
five  metres ;  its  branches  were  also  very  large,  the  leaves  smaller  than 
those  of  the  smaller  trees  and  their  form  entirely  different  from  them. 
Mr.  Manchinelli  having  never  extracted  any  rubber  from  them,  did 
not  know  the  quantity  that  each  tree  could  give,  but  experts  calculated 
that  it  could  not  produce  less  than  about  fifty  pounds  a  year. 

The  trunk  of  the  rubber-tree  of  Soconusco  is  of  a  spongy  white 
wood,  with  large  pores  plainly  visible  to  the  eye. 

Very  little  is  known  regarding  the  discovery  of  the  rubber- tree. 
The  French  astronomers  sent  to  Peru,  in  1735,  were  the  first  who 
called  attention  to  it.  It  was  found  afterward  at  Cayenne  by  Frisman, 
in  1751.  Dr.  Priestly  refers  to  it  in  the  preface  of  his  work  entitled 
Prospective,  printed  in  1770.  Various  experiments  made  for  utilizing 
rubber  are  mentioned  in  the  Memoirs  of  the  Academy  of  Sciences  of 
France  for  the  year  1768. 

Rubber  is  extracted  by  making  an  incision  in  the  bark  of  the  tree 
from  which  flows  a  liquid  very  much  like  sap  in  color  and  thickness. 
Exposed  to  the  sun  or  the  fire,  the  watery  part  evaporates  and  the 
rubber  remains.  Exposed  to  the  air,  it  loses  its  white  color  and  be- 
comes dark. 

This  liquid  is  of  a  light  yellow  color  with  a  specific  gravity  of 
1012.  The  rubber  separated  from  the  sap  rises  to  the  surface  like 
coagulated  albumen,  and  when  heated  with  water,  its  specific  gravity 


380  UnMa-'IRubber  Culture  fn  /iDejtco. 

is  0.925,  but  when  pressed  out  like  cream  it  contains  32  per  cent,  of  the 
liquid. 

From  the  analysis  made  by  Prof.  Faraday,  rubber,  as  it  flows  from 
the  trees,  is  composed  as  follows: 

Water  with  a  little  free  acid 56.37 

Rubber  or  caoutchouc 3J-7° 

Albumen 1.90 

Wax 

A  body  of  nitrogen  soluble  in  water 7.13 

A  substance  insoluble  in  water 2.90 


100. OO 


According  to  the  same  scientist,  rubber  already  dry  contains  none 
of  the  oxygen  which  is  found  in  most  vegetable  products,  but  is  an 
hydrocarburet  consisting  of  eight  parts  of  carbon  and  seven  of  hydro- 
gen, which  would  require  a  proportion  of  82.27  °f  carbon  to  12.73  °f 
hydrogen  for  every  100  parts.  The  quantities  found  by  him  were 
87.02  of  carbon  to  12.08  of  hydrogen.  The  same  result  was  obtained 
in  the  analysis  made  by  Dr.  Ure. 

In  his  Dictionary  of  Arts,  Manufactures,  and  Mines,  Dr.  Ure  ob- 
serves that  rubber,  in  its  liquid  state,  that  is,  "  cachusina,"  which  is 
formed  by  the  distillation  of  the  rubber,  has  less  specific  gravity  than 
sulphuric  ether;  while  in  its  fluid  condition,  it  is  heavier  than  the 
heaviest  of  all  gases. 

He  remarks  also,  that  the  greater  part  of  the  rubber  imported  to 
Europe  came  formerly  from  Para,  in  Brazil,  but  that  in  recent  years 
great  quantities  have  been  received  from  Java,  Penang,  Singapore, 
and  Assam, 

According  to  M.  de  la  Condamine,  rubber  is  extracted  chiefly 
during  the  rainy  season,  because  at  that  time  the  trees  yield  more 
abundantly  than  in  the  dry  season. 

Mr.  Lee  Norris,  of  New  York,  discovered  the  means  of  keeping 
rubber  in  its  milky  form,  as  it  flows  from  the  tree,  in  hermetically 
sealed  vases;  the  liquid  is  first  filtered,  then  well  mixed  with  the 
eighteenth  part  of  its  weight  of  strong  ammonia.  When  poured  on  a 
plane  surface  and  exposed  to  a  temperature  between  70  and  100  de- 
grees Fahrenheit,  the  ammonia  that  protected  it  from  the  action  of  the 
oxygen  in  the  atmosphere  evaporates  and  leaves  the  rubber,  which  re- 
mains white,  and  in  the  shape  of  its  container. 

Vulcanized  rubber,  a  combination  of  rubber  and  sulphur,  was  first 
made  by  Mr.  Charles  Goodyear,  of  New  York,  to  whom  letters-patent 
for  his  invention  was  granted  in  February,  1839.  Mr.  Goodyear  made 
further  experiments  later  on  with  sulphur,  lead,  and  rubber,  but  these 
did  not  give  as  satisfactory  results  as  the  first  ones. 


IRubber  as  a  TCaw  /iDatertal,  381 

Experiments  are  at  present  being  made  in  manufacturing  rubber 
cloth  to  take  the  place  of  water-proof  articles  which,  until  now,  were 
composed  of  glazed  linen  with  a  layer  of  rubber. 

III. 

IMPORTANCE  OF  RUBBER  AS  A  RAW  MATERIAL. 

It  is  well  known  that  rubber  is  used  as  a  raw  material,  in  the  manu- 
facture not  only  of  water-proof  goods,  but  also  of  many  others  which 
could  not  be  produced  as  advantageously  with  any  other  substance. 

Every  year  it  is  employed  in  the  manufacture  of  a  great  many 
articles  that  were  not  made  of  that  material  the  year  before.  It  may, 
perhaps,  not  be  an  exaggeration  to  say,  that  in  course  of  time  it  will 
partially  supersede  iron.  These  considerations  are  sufficient  to  estab- 
lish the  fact  that  the  demand  for  rubber,  in  the  markets  of  the  world, 
far  from  diminishing,  will,  in  the  future,  increase  considerably. 

Thus  far,  rubber  is  not  the  product  of  a  cultivated  tree.  In  every 
part  of  the  American  continent  from  which  it  has  thus  far  come,  it  has 
been  extracted  from  trees  growing  wild,  and  that  had  not  been  origi- 
nally planted  by  the  hand  of  man.  In  every  locality,  also,  it  is  ex- 
tracted at  the  cost  of  the  tree  itself;  either  because  this  is  cut  down, 
owing  to  the  belief  that  the  sap  is  thus  more  abundant,  or  because  of 
the  frequency  with  which  extractions  are  made,  or  of  the  bad  system 
in  use  of  making  them,  which  injures  the  trunk  and  thus  kills  the  tree. 
Notwithstanding  that  certain  measures  to  protect  it  have  been  adopted 
in  different  countries,  such  as  Honduras  where  a  fine  of  fifty  dollars 
is  imposed  for  every  rubber-tree  destroyed  on  government  lands,  they 
have  proved  ineffectual. 

The  inevitable  consequence  of  this  must  be  that  the  production  will 
diminish,  unless  a  large  number  of  plantations  are  soon  established,  and 
perhaps  even  in  that  case;  and  as  it  is  not  probable  that  extensive 
plantations  will  be  made,  if  only  because  it  would  be  a  new  enterprise 
and  for  that  reason  a  somewhat  risky  one,  the  certain  result  will  be, 
that  the  supply  in  the  present  rubber  districts  will  decline  in  proportion 
as  the  demand  increases. 

Now  then,  it  is  an  incontrovertible  principle  that  the  value  of  an 
article  depends  upon  the  demand  which  there  is  for  it,  on  the  one 
hand,  and  its  production,  on  the  other.  When  the  former  increases, 
and  the  latter  diminishes,  its  value  rises  in  proportion.  To-day,  the 
average  price  of  rubber  is  sixty  cents  a  pound.  It  is  almost  certain 
that  within  five  years  it  will  reach  seventy-five  cents,  and,  perhaps,  as 
much  as  one  dollar  a  pound,  owing  to  the  facts  above  mentioned. 
The  value  of  rubber  has  been  quadrupled  in  Soconusco  in  less  than 


382  flnfcia*1Rul>ber  Culture  in  /IDejtco, 

ten  years;  for  from  eight  cents,  the  price  at  which  it  was  sold  to  ex- 
porters in  1863,  it  rose  this  year  (1872)  to  thirty-five  cents  a  pound; 
the  cost  of  transportation  to  the  port  of  shipment,  etc.,  being  at  the 
expense  of  the  exporter. 

Rubber  is  an  article  which,  even  assuming  that  instead  of  rising  in 
price  it  were  certain  to  retain  its  present  value,  or  were  even  to  decline 
as  low  as  fifty  cents  a  pound,  would  still  yield  enormous  profits,  as  will 
be  seen  in  the  following  chapter. 

IV. 
PROFITS  OF  THE  CULTURE  OF  THE  RUBBER-TREE. 

The  large  profits  yielded  by  the  culture  of  rubber  are  obvious. 
Supposing,  for  instance,  a  plantation  of  ordinary  size,  containing 
about  one  hundred  thousand  trees,  will  give,  at  the  end  of  a  few  years 
making  a  low  estimate,  six  pounds  of  sap  a  year  for  every  tree  ; 
that  sap,  reduced  to  rubber,  would  lose  about  one-half  by  evapora- 
tion, then  each  tree  would  yield  three  pounds  net  of  rubber. 

From  the  analysis  made  by  Prof.  Faraday,  the  sap  contains  only 
forty-four  per  cent,  of  rubber,  the  balance  being  composed  of  differ- 
ent substances;  therefore,  supposing  that  these  evaporate,  it  will  re- 
sult that  from  one  hundred  pounds  of  sap  forty-four  pounds  of  rubber 
will  remain.  This  conclusion  agrees  with  the  opinion  of  Dr.  Ure,  who, 
in  his  Dictionary  of  Arts,  Manufactures,  and  Mines,  says  that  in  re- 
ducing the  sap  to  rubber  there  remains  forty-five  per  cent,  of  the  latter, 
the  balance  of  fifty-five  per  cent,  being  lost. 

The  number  of  pounds  of  sap  furnished  yearly  by  each  tree  being 
reduced  to  rubber  on  that  basis,  two  pounds  and  a  half  of  rubber 
would  be  obtained  from  each  tree,  or  a  revenue  of  two  dollars  and  a 
half  per  tree,  if  the  price  was  one 'dollar  a  pound;  or  of  one  dollar 
and  twenty-five  cents  per  tree,  if  the  price  was  fifty  cents  a  pound.  In 
the  first  case,  the  plantation  would  give  a  return  of  two  hundred  and 
forty  thousand  dollars  a  year;  and  in  the  second  of  one  hundred  and 
twenty  thousand.  Admitting  that  this  estimate  of  six  pounds  per  tree 
is  too  high,  let  it  be  one-half,  one-quarter,  or  even  one-fourth  of  it, 
which  would  be  the  minimum  yield,  as  will  be  seen  further  on,  the  re- 
turns of  the  plantation  will  be  one  hundred  and  twenty  thousand 
dollars,  eighty-six  thousand  dollars,  and  seventy  thousand  dollars,  re- 
spectively, in  the  first  case,  that  is  to  say,  if  the  price  of  rubber  was 
one  dollar  per  pound ;  and  sixty  thousand,  forty  thousand,  and  thirty 
thousand,  in  the  second  case,  if  the  price  was  fifty  cents  a  pound. 

It  is  to  be  observed,  that  sixty  cents  a  pound  is  to-day  the  average 
price  of  rubber  in  foreign  markets,  and  that,  taking  into  account  the 


Conditions  tor  a  IRubber  plantation*  383 

expenses  of  transportation,  commission,  freight,  insurance,  and  others, 
including  also  the  profits  of  the  exporter,  which  may  be  calculated  at 
thirty  per  cent,  of  the  price  above  mentioned,  this  would  be  reduced 
to  forty-two  cents  per  pound  on  the  place  of  production. 

As  the  cost  of  a  plantation  of  one  hundred  thousand  trees  in  the 
State  of  Chiapas,  the  best  locality  for  this  product,  would  not  prob- 
ably be  more  than  ten  thousand  dollars,  it  results  that  the  profits 
would  really  be  fabulous. 

It  must  be  observed,  moreover,  that  as  the  yield  of  every  tree  will 
increase  annually,  there  is  every  reason  to  believe  that  a  tree  twenty 
years  old  will  give  from  fifteen  to  twenty-five  pounds  of  sap. 

For  the  purpose  of  showing  upon  what  basis  the  preceding  calcula- 
tions rest,  and  of  giving  general  data  that  may  be  useful  to  those  who 
would  like  to  go  into  that  business,  we  will  consider  in  the  following 
chapter,  what  are  the  requisite  conditions  to  form  such  a  plantation. 

V. 

PROPER  CONDITIONS  TO  FORM  A  PLANTATION  OF  RUBBER- 
TREES. 

When  about  to  form  a  plantation  of  rubber-trees,  it  is  indispensable 
to  ascertain  beforehand  what  are  the  best  conditions  for  the  develop- 
ment of  that  tree,  so  that  at  the  least  possible  expense  and  in  the 
shortest  time,  for  "  time  is  money,"  the  largest  returns  may  be  ob- 
tained. The  following  points,  therefore,  should  be  carefully  ex- 
amined : 

1 .  What  are  the  climate  and  soil  most  favorable  to  the  development 
of  the  rubber-tree  ? 

2.  What  is  the  best  way  to  form  a  plantation,  by  sowing  seeds, 
transplanting  from  the  nursery,  or  with  cuttings  ? 

3.  Should  the  plantation  be  exposed  to  the  sun  or  should  it  have 
shade  ? 

4.  At  what  distance  must  the  trees  be  from  each  other,  so  that  they 
shall  not  interfere  with  one  another's  growth,  and  yet  that  no  land  shall 
be  wasted  ? 

5.  What  operations  will  the  tree  require  before  bearing  ? 

6.  How  long  after  planting  the  seed  will  the  tree  begin  to  bear  ? 

7.  What  quantity  of  rubber  can  each  tree  produce  in  a  year  ? 

8.  What  is  the  best  way  to  extract  the  rubber  from  the  tree  without 
destroying  it  ? 

Unfortunately,  it  is  not  possible  to  answer  positively  and  conclu- 
sively every  one  of  the  preceding  questions.  In  regard  to  some  of 
them  certain  fixed  principles,  proved  by  experience,  may  be  laid  down ; 


384  IFnbta^lRixbber  Culture  in  /I&ejico. 

and,  concerning  others,  one  must  accept  deductions  which,  in  my 
opinion,  are  well  worthy  of  consideration. 

Before  discussing  the  above  questions  in  detail,  I  deem  it  opportune 
to  state,  that  the  principal  difficulty  to  be  encountered  in  dealing  with 
the  subject,  is  the  fact  that,  so  far,  rubber  is  in  no  part  of  the  world, 
that  I  know  of,  the  product  of  cultivated  trees,  but  of  wild  ones.  The 
largest  part  of  the  rubber  consumed  in  the  world  coming  from  the 
Province  of  Para,  in  Brazil,  and  this  rubber  being  of  the  best  quality, 
and  always  obtaining  the  highest  price  in  the  market,  it  seemed  to  me 
that  it  could  be  cultivated  advantageously. 

Happening  to  be  in  the  city  of  Tapachula  on  the  24th  of  September 
of  the  present  year  (1872),  I  wrote  a  letter  to  the  United  States  Consul 
at  Para,  requesting  him  to  furnish  me  with  detailed  information  upon 
almost  the  very  same  points  enumerated  at  the  beginning  of  this 
chapter.  The  answer,  to  which  I  shall  refer  later,  reached  me  in  the 
City  of  Mexico.  For  the  present,  it  suffices  for  my  purpose  to  quote 
here  a  paragraph  from  a  communication  upon  the  subject,  addressed 
to  the  State  Department  by  Mr.  James  B.  Bond,  United  States  Consul 
at  Para,  dated  November  5,  1870,  which  is  on  page  60  of  the  Annual 
Report  on  Commercial  Relations  between  the  United  States  and  Foreign 
Nations,  for  the  year  ending  September  30,  1870,  transmitted  February 
3,  1871,  to  the  House  of  Representatives  at  Washington  by  the  Secre- 
tary of  State.  This  paragraph  is  as  follows: 

Rubber  is  not  the  product  of  a  cultivated  tree  :  it  is  extracted  from  trees  in  the 
forests,  and  the  government,  in  no  way  whatever,  claims  anything  from  those  who 
take  them  out  of  national  lands.  It  has  been  asserted  that  the  trees  from  which  the 
rubber  is  obtained  are  being  exhausted  in  the  forests  in  the  immediate  proximity  to 
the  markets,  either  because  they  die  or  because  they  give  but  little  sap  owing  to  their 
being  too  frequently  tapped.  But  the  area  of  the  production  is  so  vast,  and  the  means 
of  reaching  the  most  distant  localities  increase  so  rapidly,  that  no  immediate  diminu- 
tion is  anticipated.  On  the  contrary,  it  is  possible  that  it  will  increase  for  several 
years.1 

From  the  investigations  which  I  have  made,  it  results  that  not  until 
a  very  short  time  ago  did  the  rubber-tree  begin  to  be  cultivated ;  that 
the  attempts  at  planting  of  which  I  have  any  knowledge  have  been  on 
a  very  small  scale  and  so  very  few  and  recently  made  that  they  can- 
not serve  for  the  purpose  of  this  paper. 

The  principal  plantations  of  which  I  have  any  knowledge,  are  the 
Zanj6n  Seco,  in  the  Department  of  Soconusco,  made  by  D.  Jos£  Maria 
Chac6n ;  that  on  the  farm  of  San  Isidro,  the  property  af  Mr.  William 
Nelson,  situated  in  the  jurisdiction  of  Mazatenango,  in  the  District  of 
Suchitepequez,  in  the  Republic  of  Guatemala,  where  the  rubber-trees 

1  This  is  a  retranslation  from  the  Spanish  translation  of  the  English  original. 


Best  Climate  for  "Rubber  Culture*  385 

are  used  to  shade  the  coffee-  and  cocoa-plants;  and  that  of  Hatillo, 
owned  by  an  agricultural  society  in  the  State  of  Veracruz. 

I  have  been  told,  also,  that  in  Nicaragua  and  Honduras,  some 
plantations  have  been  formed  as  experiments,  the  principal  one  be- 
longing to  Dr.  Gauffrau,  on  the  bay  of  Realejo,  near  the  port  of  Corinto, 
in  the  former  republic. 

These  explanations  being  made,  I  shall  now  proceed  to  discuss,  in 
regular  order,  each  of  the  points  specified  at  the  beginning  of  this 
chapter. 

I.    CLIMATE   AND    LAND    BEST    ADAPTED    TO   THE   CULTURE   OF    THE 

RUBBER-TREE. 

The  fact  that  thus  far  rubber  is  not  the  product  of  a  cultivated 
tree,  does  not  preclude  the  possibility  of  one  answering  the  ques- 
tion :  What  climate  and  land  are  best  suited  to  its  development  ? 

The  best  climate  is  the  hottest,  and  the  best  land  the  dampest  and 
the  nearest  to  the  seashore  or  to  the  low  banks  of  rivers.  Wherever 
rubber-trees  are  found  these  conditions  are  present. 

Those  of  Para  are  found  on  the  banks  of  the  Amazon.  The  rub- 
ber land  that  I  have  personally  examined  is  in  the  Department  of 
Soconusco,  in  the  State  of  Chiapas.  Soconusco  forms  a  plain  from 
six  to  twelve  leagues  wide,  which  terminates  at  the  Pacific  and  ascends 
gradually  and  almost  imperceptibly  to  the  base  of  the  Cordilleras, 
where  the  ascent  is  steeper,  although  still  gradual.  This  plain  is 
crossed  by  numerous  rivers  which  come  down  from  the  Cordilleras 
and  empty  into  the  sea.  The  climate  is  hotter  in  the  low  than  in  the 
high  lands  above  the  sea-level.  One  notes  the  great  number  of  rubber- 
trees, — all  small  ones,  the  large  ones  having  been  cut  down  to  extract 
their  sap, — that  are  in  the  forests  on  the  plain,  and  the  number  in- 
creases notably  as  one  approaches  the  sea,  and  diminishes  in  the  same 
proportion  as  one  goes  from  the  shore  toward  the  Cordilleras;  even  at 
the  base  of  these  mountains,  at  an  elevation  of  twenty  -five  hundred 
feet  above  the  sea-level,  and  in  lands  suitable  for  the  culture  of  coffee, 
some  rubber-trees  are  found,  but  they  are  exceedingly  rare. 

To  establish  a  plantation  it  is  necessary,  before  everything  else,  to 
select  the  ground;  this  should  be  in  the  climate  best  adapted  to  the 
development  of  the  tree,  as  the  expenses  would  be  almost  the  same 
everywhere;  while  the  trees  will  grow  in  much  less  time  under  favor- 
able than  under  unfavorable  conditions,  and  give  greater  returns  when 
they  begin  to  bear,  in  the  former  than  in  the  latter  case.  In  the  Dis- 
trict of  Soconusco  alone,  there  is  sufficient  land  to  plant  several 
millions  of  rubber-trees;  and  I  believe  that  a  great  many  localities 
could  be  found  on  both  sides  of  the  coasts  of  Mexico,  that  are  equally 


386  Unbia*1Rubber  Culture  in  jflDejico. 

advantageous  for  that  culture;  provided,  always,  that  the  plantations 
are  established  in  the  low  lands,  in  a  damp  climate,  and,  whenever 
possible,  near  the  seashore  or  the  banks  of  rivers.  The  temperature 
of  the  localities  in  Soconusco  where  the  rubber-tree  most  abounds  is 
from  twenty-eight  to  thirty  degrees  Centigrade,  or  from  eighty-three  to 
eighty-seven  degrees  Fahrenheit.  In  all  cases  it  would  be  well  to  form 
the  plantation  in  places  where  the  wild  trees  grow  most  abundantly,  as 
their  presence  is  the  best  evidence  that  the  land  and  climate  are  favor- 
able to  their  development. 

Dr.  Ure  states  that  the  Asiatic  rubber,  or  Ficus  elastica,  is  found  at 
a  very  high  altitude  above  the  level  of  the  sea. 

This  tree  has,  besides,  the  great  advantage  of  requiring  but  little 
labor  for  its  cultivation,  which  makes  its  exploitation  possible,  even  on 
a  large  scale,  in  Mexican  coasts,  which  are  generally  not  populous. 

2.    HOW    TO    FORM    A    PLANTATION    OF    RUBBER-TREES. 

In  regard  to  the  best  method  of  forming  a  plantation  it  must  be 
observed  that  the  rubber-tree  not  being  very  delicate,  economy  of 
time  and  money  are  the  first  things  to  be  considered.  If  the  land 
selected  be  forest  land,  the  first  thing  to  be  done  is  to  clear  it,  should 
it  be  thought  preferable  to  have  the  plantation  exposed  to  the  sun ; 
but  should  the  shade  be  deemed  best,  the  trees  already  standing  will 
furnish  the  best  and  cheapest  protection.  The  soil  having  been  pre- 
pared, the  planting  can  begin  by  sowing  the  seeds  in  convenient  places, 
or  by  transplanting  young  plants  from  the  nursery  or  from  the  forest 
itself.  Sowing  the  seeds  would  undoubtedly  be  the  best  plan,  but  it 
would  also  be  the  most  expensive  and  the  slowest;  the  most  expen- 
sive because  it  would  involve  the  cost  of  a  double  planting,  the  first  in 
laying  out  the  nursery,  and  the  second  in  transplanting  the  young 
plants  from  the  nursery  to  the  plantation;  the  slowest,  because  the 
time  that  might  be  saved  by  planting  saplings  would  thus  be  lost. 

The  method  to  be  adopted  will,  therefore,  depend  upon  circum- 
stances. Where  there  are  trees  already  somewhat  grown  it  is  prefer- 
able to  transplant  these,  because  it  saves  time ;  where  there  are  large 
trees,  cuttings  may  be  used,  and  where  there  are  none  of  either  and 
only  seeds  can  be  obtained,  the  last  must  be  used.  It  is  not  necessary 
that  they  should  be  sown  in  the  nursery,  as  the  plant  is  not  delicate 
and  requires  no  special  care,  like  coffee  and  some  others  regarding 
which  experience  shows  that  it  is  an  economy  to  plant  them  in  the 
nursery. 

On  the  i6th  of  September  of  the  present  year  (1872),  being  at  Tapa- 
chula,  I  made  an  experiment  with  Don  Sebastian  Escobar,  a  well-known 
practical  agriculturist,  thoroughly  acquainted  with  the  nature  of  these 
lands  and  enthusiastic  in  the  matter  of  agricultural  progress.  We 


t)ow  to  plant  IRubber^Erees*  387 

selected  a  part  of  the  public  domain  occupied  by  Senor  Escobar,  to  see 
whether  transplanting  could  be  done  by  pulling  up  the  small  trees,  as 
in  that  case  the  roots  would  come  up  without  any  earth  around  them; 
or  if  it  would  be  necessary  to  remove  the  soil  that  covered  them ;  for 
in  the  first  case,  the  operation  would  be  quicker  and  cheaper  than  in 
the  second.  On  the  land  referred  to,  we  saw  about  sixty  small  rubber- 
trees,  from  eight  decimetres  to  one  metre  and  a  half  high.  We  pulled 
up  a  few  without,  and  others  with  the  earth  covering  their  roots,  and 
transplanted  them  at  a  distance  of  two  metres  from  each  other.  We 
first  performed  the  operation  planting  some  of  the  trees  in  the  shade, 
and  then  planting  others  in  the  sun.  A  short  time  afterward  we 
noticed  that  the  leaves  of  the  transplanted  trees  had  begun  to  fade ;  in 
the  evening  of  that  day,  they  appeared  to  be  dead.  On  the  day  fol- 
lowing, they  were  dry ;  shortly  after  they  fell  off,  the  branches  that  re- 
mained presenting  a  not  very  encouraging  appearance.  In  a  week, 
the  trees  all  began  to  sprout  again ;  a  little  later  they  were  covered  with 
luxuriant  foliage  and  not  a  single  one  was  lost.  This  is  a  proof  of  the 
endurance  of  the  rubber-tree.  The  land  in  Tapachula,  where  the  ex- 
periment was  made,  is  not  the  best  kind  for  the  rubber-tree,  being  some- 
what higher  than  that  nearer  the  shore. 

The  easiest  and  most  economical  way  of  making  such  a  plantation 
would  be,  in  the  beginning,  to  combine  it  with  the  culture  of  some 
product  adaptable  to  the  soil,  and  of  a  more  rapid  growth.  The  land 
being  cleared,  it  could  be  prepared  for  sowing  cotton,  which  generally 
grows  well  in  the  soil  suitable  for  the  rubber-tree;  and,  in  sowing 
cotton,  rubber  could  also  be  sown  at  proper  distances,  or  saplings 
transplanted.  The  cotton  crop  being  harvested,  the  rubber  would 
remain  without  any  cost,  since  the  expenses  incurred  would  be  only 
those  required  for  the  cotton.  This  operation  could  be  repeated  the 
year  following;  and,  in  this  way,  the  plantation  would  be  gradually 
enlarged  and  without  additional  cost. 

There  is  also  another  very  economical  way  of  planting  rubber,  and 
that  is,  to  plant  the  trees  as  shade  in  the  coffee  and  cocoa  plantations. 
I  have  heard  that  this  operation  has  been  successfully  tried  in  some 
places.  The  expenses  of  a  plantation  of  rubber-trees  would  not  then 
exceed,  in  any  case,  those  required  for  one  of  coffee  or  cocoa;  but  the 
rubber-trees  could  not  then  be  planted  in  the  places  best  adapted  for 
their  rapid  development  and  greatest  yield,  inasmuch  as  the  climate  and 
soil  most  advantageous  for  coffee  and  cocoa  are  not  the  best  for  rubber. 

Senor  Don  Jose"  M.  Chacon  assured  me  that  to  have  cuttings  grow 
well,  the  end  which  is  to  go  into  the  ground  must  be  pointed,  and  the 
slip  driven  in,  probably  in  order  that  the  soil  may  adhere  the  better, 
and  the  cutting  remain  firmly  planted. 

It  is  to  be  observed  that  in  the  lands  of  Soconusco  near  the  shores 


388  *|[n&ia*1Rubber  Culture  in 

of  the  Pacific,  seeds  and  trees  somewhat  grown  are  to  be  found  in 
sufficient  quantities  to  form  extensive  plantations. 

3.    THE   RUBBER-TREE   MUST    BE   PLANTED   IN    THE   SUN. 

As  the  rubber-tree,  so  far,  grows  wild,  and  is  found  in  the  forests  of 
the  most  fertile  lands,  where  vegetation  is  very  luxuriant,  and  always 
in  the  shade  of  larger  trees,  the  general  opinion  of  agriculturists  in 
those  localities  is  that,  like  coffee,  it  needs  shade  to  grow  well.  Ob- 
servation shows,  however,  that  this  opinion  is  inexact.  The  most 
superficial  observer  cannot  fail  to  notice  the  great  difference  which 
there  is  between  rubber-trees  growing  in  the  sun  and  those  that  are  in 
the  shade.  The  latter  have  but  few  leaves,  are  stunted,  and  appear 
withered;  while  the  former  have  thick  foliage,  a  brighter  color,  and 
look  much  more  vigorous.  The  most  careful  cultivators  in  Soconusco, 
and  the  very  ones  who  were  before  of  opinion  that  the  rubber-tree  re- 
quired shade  for  its  development,  acknowledged  before  my  return 
from  that  district  that  they  grew  better  in  the  sun. 

In  this  opinion  I  was  soon  afterwards  confirmed.  I  deem  it  proper 
to  state  here,  however,  what  Senor  Don  Jos£  M.  Chacon  told  me.  Senor 
Chacon  is  a  very  experienced  agriculturist,  the  same  who  made  the 
plantation  of  Zanjon  Seco.  His  opinion  is  that  the  tree  planted  in 
the  sun  develops  more  rapidly  than  it  would  in  the  shade,  and  yields  a 
larger  quantity  of  sap ;  but  this  is  very  soon  exhausted,  owing  to  the 
ardent  rays  of  the  sun,  which  prevent  the  soil  from  retaining  the  neces- 
sary moisture.  He  believes  that  a  tree  planted  in  the  sun  would  yield 
sap  only  for  two  or  three  years,  and  would  then  die  for  want  of  suffi- 
cient humidity. 

With  much  hesitation,  I  express  the  opinion  that  the  reason  why 
some  plants  require  shade  to  grow  better,  is  that  the  shade  serves  to 
temper  the  rays  of  the  sun,  for  I  have  observed  that  the  lower  the 
temperature  of  the  place  where  coffee  is  planted,  the  less  shade  it  re- 
quires, and  that  it  grows  better  without  any  shade  at  all  where  the 
temperature  is  moderate.  The  rubber-tree  being  of  a  kind  requiring 
a  very  high  temperature,  it  seems  to  me  that  the  more  heat  it  receives 
the  better  will  be  its  development.  The  humidity  of  the  soil  would 
remain  when  the  trees  attained  a  certain  size,  for  their  branches  would 
then  meet  and  give  sufficient  shade  to  prevent  the  rapid  evaporation  of 
the  ground. 

The  short  time  I  stayed  at  Tapachula  did  not  permit  me  to  observe 
any  difference  between  the  growth  and  luxuriance  of  the  saplings 
planted  in  the  sun  and  those  that  were  in  the  shade.  The  mere  fact 
that  none  of  the  trees  planted  in  the  sun  had  perished,  was,  in  my 
opinion,  a  sufficient  proof  that  the  rubber-tree  requires  a  sunny  ex- 
posure, and  should  be  planted  without  shade. 


Distance  between  tbe  IRubber^Urees,  389 


4.    DISTANCE    NEEDED    IN    PLANTING    RUBBER-TREES. 

The  distance  apart  at  which  rubber-trees  should  be  planted,  is  a 
question  which,  although  apparently  secondary,  is  really  an  important 
one.  If  from  a  false  economy  they  be  planted  closer  than  is  proper, 
the  trees  will  interfere  with  each  other,  and  will  consequently  become 
stunted;  while  if  planted  a  greater  distance  apart  than  is  absolutely 
necessary,  there  will  be  a  waste  of  ground  and  a  great  increase  in  the 
cost  of  cultivation,  besides  the  cost  of  fencing,  watching,  and  such 
other  outlays  as  may  be  needed,  when  the  plantation  is  in  a  state  of  full 
development  and  production.  The  importance  of  space  is  practically 
illustrated  in  coffee  and  sugar-cane  plantations:  it  is  seen  that  on  the 
same  land  the  returns  of  coffee-trees  planted  at  a  distance  of  three 
metres  apart  are  double  the  returns  of  those  growing  at  a  metre  and 
a  half  or  two  metres  apart  from  each  other.  From  this  it  will  be  per- 
ceived how  great  a  difference  in  the  yield  of  the  rubber-tree  the  distance 
at  which  they  are  planted  makes. 

The  prevailing  opinion  among  the  agriculturists  of  Soconusco,  is 
that  a  space  of  two  or  two  and  a  half  metres  from  tree  to  tree,  on  every 
side,  is  all  that  is  required.  It  seems  to  me  that  it  ought  to  be  much 
more.  If  coffee,  which  is  a  shrub  seldom  attaining  a  height  of  more 
than  three  or  four  metres,  and  whose  foliage  is,  at  most,  three  metres 
in  diameter,  requires  in  order  to  give  an  abundant  crop  to  be  planted 
at  a  distance  of  three  yards  from  tree  to  tree,  is  it  reasonable  to  sup- 
pose that  the  rubber-tree,  which  grows  to  a  very  large  size,  should  be 
planted  at  the  same  distance  or  less  ? 

In  my  opinion,  planting  ought  not  to  be  done  at  a  distance  of  less 
than  five  metres,  and  even  this  would  be  too  small  for  trees  over  thirty 
years  old.  The  trunks  of  those  on  the  farm  of  Mr.  Manchinelli,  which 
were  of  that  age,  measure,  as  I  have  already  stated,  two  metres  in 
diameter,  and  the  circle  formed  by  their  foliage  is  between  twenty  and 
twenty-five  feet  in  diameter. 

The  only  objection  there  can  be  to  leaving  a  greater  space  between 
the  trees,  and  one  which  may,  in  some  cases,  be  of  sufficient  weight 
to  reduce  it  to  less  than  five  metres  indicated  as  the  best,  is  the  neces- 
sity of  economy,  inasmuch  as  the  cost  of  the  grove  would  increase  in 
proportion  to  the  distance  apart  at  which  the  trees  are  planted,  as 
will  be  demonstrated  in  the  following  chapter. 

5.    CARE   REQUIRED    FOR   THE   CULTURE   OF    THE    RUBBER-TREE. 

The  hardiness  of  the  rubber-tree  greatly  simplifies  its  culture,  and 
causes  this  to  be  proportionately  cheap.  In  the  low,  hot,  and  damp 
lands  favorable  to  its  growth,  fertility  is  so  great  that  the  labor  con- 
sists, more  than  in  anything  else,  in  struggling  against  the  luxuriance 


390  UnMa*1Rubber  Culture  in  /IDejico, 

of  the  vegetation ;  and  the  principal  expense  is  that  of  the  frequent 
weedings  which  are  necessary  to  prevent  the  underbrush  and  vines 
from  destroying  the  grove,  or  causing  the  trees  to  grow  slowly  and  to 
become  stunted. 

In  the  lands  that  are  much  higher  than  those  favorable  to  the  rub- 
ber-tree, but  less  fertile,  being  less  hot  and  damp,  like  those  that  are 
suited  to  the  coffee-plant,  it  is  necessary  to  make  as  many  as  six  weed- 
ings  every  year;  one  every  sixty  days,  in  order  that  the  saplings  may 
not  be  injured  or  destroyed  by  the  undergrowth  and  parasites. 

The  rubber-tree  has  the  great  advantage  of  possessing  a  vitality 
superior  to  that  of  the  weeds  or  of  any  other  kind  of  vegetation,  and 
for  that  reason  it  does  not  require  the  heavy  expense  of  frequent  weed- 
ings.  The  tree  which,  without  any  help  from  man,  can  grow  in  woods 
full  of  vines,  briers,  and  other  wild  plants,  can  certainly  outlive  the 
weeds,  for  they  will  not  grow  more  rapidly  than  it  does. 

There  is  no  doubt  that  a  grove  of  rubber-trees  requiring  to  be 
weeded  out  only  once  after  having  been  planted,  will  grow  without 
that  indispensable  requirement  in  the  low  and  fertile  lands  of  the  coast; 
but  in  that  case,  the  growth  of  the  tree  will  be  slower,  because  the 
weeds  will  share  with  it  the  nourishment  drawn  from  the  soil ;  it  would 
therefore  be  cheaper  to  weed  the  grove  twice  a  year,  according  to  the 
rapidity  of  the  growth  of  the  brush  and  the  means  of  the  owner. 

In  proportion  as  the  tree  grows  larger  weedings  will  become  less 
necessary,  because  its  foliage  will  cover  a  larger  area  of  ground;  and 
the  larger  the  surface  not  exposed  to  the  sun  the  less  luxuriant  will  be 
the  undergrowth.  Viewed  in  this  light,  a  rubber  plantation  with  shade 
will  be  more  profitable  since  it  will  require  fewer  weedings. 

6.    TIME    REQUIRED    FOR    THE    TREE    TO    PRODUCE    RUBBER. 

It  is  not  possible  to  fix,  with  any  degree  of  certainty,  the  time  re- 
quired by  the  tree  before  it  will  yield  rubber,  which  is  an  important 
question,  for  supposing  it  to  be  fifteen  or  twenty  years,  the  enterprise 
will  not  offer  the  same  inducement  as  if  it  were  but  five  or  six  years. 
Six  years  is  a  comparatively  short  period  in  a  man's  lifetime,  and  this 
is  the  time  required  by  the  coffee-  and  cocoa-plants  to  bear  fruit.  It  is 
safe  to  say  that  were  it  perfectly  certain  that  five  or  six  years  were 
sufficient  for  the  rubber-tree  to  produce,  the  number  of  groves  would 
increase  considerably.  The  importance  of  this  point  has  led  me  to 
give  it  particular  attention. 

Superficial  observers,  in  the  regions  where  the  rubber-tree  is  found, 
believe  that  the  time  necessary  for  its  development  is  not  less  than 
from  twelve  to  twenty  years.  Those  who  are  more  experienced  and 
closer  observers  fix  a  shorter  term.  After  having  heard  many  and 
widely  differing  opinions  on  this  point  from  agriculturists  and  studied 


<auantit£  of  IRubber  HJtelfcefc  b£  a  Uree.          391 

the  question  very  carefully  myself,  I  am  inclined  to  think  that  six 
years,  counting  from  the  time  the  seed  was  planted,  is  the  period  re- 
quired for  the  rubber-tree  to  yield  its  product,  in  the  soil  best  suited  to 
its  development;  for  it  is  quite  evident  that  in  less  favorable  soil,  it 
would  need  a  longer  time. 

During  my  recent  stay  in  Soconusco,  I  was  able  to  satisfy  myself 
by  facts  of  the  correctness  of  the  opinion  fixing  six  years  for  the  devel- 
opment of  the  rubber-tree. 

I  frequently  found  trees  whose  age,  owing  to  their  being  in  a  well- 
known  spot,  such  as  the  courtyard  of  a  farm,  could  be  ascertained  by 
asking  it  of  the  persons  who  had  seen  them  planted  or  growing  from 
the  seed.  This  was  sometimes  difficult,  but  the  difficulty  could  be  re- 
moved in  every  case,  and  then  it  appeared  that  trees  from  six  to  eight 
metres  high,  with  a  trunk  from  six  to  eight  inches  in  diameter,  were 
three  or  four  years  old.  This  seemed  to  me  conclusive  evidence  that 
a  tree  six  years  old  would  have  attained  the  necessary  growth  to  begin 
bearing  without  suffering  any  injury,  provided  always  that  it  were 
situated  in  the  best  conditions  of  climate,  soil,  and  cultivation. 

Practical  and  experienced  persons  in  the  State  of  Veracruz  have 
assured  me  that  along  its  coast,  bordering  on  the  Gulf,  six  years  are 
considered  a  sufficient  period  for  the  development  of  the  rubber-tree. 

7.    QUANTITY    OF    RUBBER    THAT   EACH    TREE   CAN    YIELD. 

There  is  another  question  not  less  important  than  the  preceding 
one;  it  relates  to  the  quantity  of  rubber  that  each  tree  can  yield 
yearly.  There  is  also  a  great  variety  of  opinions  upon  this  subject. 
Many  experienced  agriculturists  are  of  opinion  that  the  trees  can  be 
tapped  every  two  months  without  injury  to  them,  yielding  each  time 
six  pounds  of  rubber,  which,  in  one  year,  would  amount  to  thirty-six 
pounds;  while  there  are  others  who  think  it  imprudent  to  make  more 
than  one  extraction  every  year,  and  from  which  not  more  than  six 
pounds  can  be  obtained.  Between  these  two  opinions,  there  are  others 
differing  both  as  to  the  number  of  tappings  and  the  quantity  of  the  yield. 
Finally,  there  are  some  who  believe  that  extracting  the  sap  every  two 
years  would  give  the  same  quantity  as  two  tappings  annually,  but  the 
proportion  of  rubber  would  be  greater. 

The  information  obtained  from  workmen  who,  for  two  years,  have 
been  engaged  in  Soconusco  in  extracting  rubber,  to  the  extent  of  de- 
stroying all  the  large  trees,  does  not  bear  upon  the  question ;  for,  in 
the  first  place,  the  trees  used  are  much  older,  a  great  many  of  them 
being  centenarians;  and,  in  the  second  place,  because  they  are  cut 
down  to  obtain  the  sap.  Their  statements,  moreover,  refer  to  measures 
of  capacity  and  not  of  weight,  as  will  be  shown  later;  for  they  first 
collect  the  rubber  in  gourds  and  afterwards  pour  it  into  jars.  But 


392  lFnfcia*1Rubl>er  Culture  in 

even  according  to  these  statements,  a  tree  having  attained  its  proper 
dimensions  in  six  years,  and  having  had  its  sap  extracted  without 
being  cut  down,  would  produce  a  quantity  of  rubber  weighing  not  less 
than  six  pounds. 

It  is  to  be  observed,  as  has  been  already  said,  that  in  order  to  con- 
vert into  rubber  the  sap  that  flows  from  the  tree  after  making  the  in- 
cision, it  is  necessary  to  let  the  watery  part  evaporate,  which,  according 
to  Prof.  Faraday's  analysis,  which  agrees  with  Dr.  Ure's  opinion,  is 
as  much  as  fifty-six  per  cent.,  the  remaining  forty-four  per  cent,  being 
what  is  properly  called  rubber.  Consequently,  the  sap  coming  from 
the  tree  must  lose  at  least  that  quantity  before  being  converted  into 
rubber. 

8.    METHOD  OF  EXTRACTING  RUBBER  WITHOUT  DESTROYING   THE  TREE. 

The  process  of  extracting  the  sap  from  the  tree  is  also  an  important 
point  in  determining  the  success  of  a  plantation.  In  Soconusco  a 
method  entirely  primitive  is  used,  which  causes  a  great  loss  of  sap, 
prevents  this  from  being  pure,  and,  what  is  worse,  kills  the  tree. 
They  begin  by  cutting  down  the  tree,  and  then  make  various  incisions 
across  the  trunk  with  a  machete,  at  a  distance  of  three  spans  (twenty- 
nine  inches)  from  each  other  ;  this  being  done,  leaves  from  the  tree 
are  placed  below  the  incisions  to  collect  the  sap,  which  is  afterward 
poured  into  a  gourd,  and  finally  put  in  the  jar. 

It  seems  to  me  that  with  so  ruinous  a  system,  less  sap  is  obtained 
than  if  the  tree  had  not  been  cut  down ;  for  I  believe  that,  being  no 
longer  in  a  vertical  position,  the  force  of  gravity  which  causes  the  sap 
to  flow,  ceases,  and,  consequently,  the  quantity  drawn  is  less  than  if 
the  tree  had  been  left  standing  to  receive  the  same  number  of  incisions. 
When,  by  chance,  they  do  not  cut  down  the  tree,  they  make  only  one 
or  two  incisions  in  it  at  about  the  height  of  a  man's  stature;  it  is  then 
more  difficult  to  collect  the  sap  by  the  imperfect  means  of  the  leaves. 
With  this  process,  it  frequently  happens  that  earth,  dry  leaves,  small 
insects,  and  other  foreign  substances  become  mixed  with  the  sap  and 
remain  in  the  rubber,  making  it  impure,  causing  it  to  fall  into  discredit 
in  the  market,  and  greatly  reducing  its  value. 

Believing  that  a  more  advanced  method  of  collecting  the  sap  was 
used  in  Pard,  I  also  made  some  inquiries  upon  the  subject,  to  the 
United  States  Consul  in  that  province.  The  information  he  sent  me 
will  be  found  further  on. 

It  is  evident,  that  to  extract  rubber  properly,  a  more  adequate  in- 
strument than  a  machete  is  required;  and  to  collect  the  sap  a  better 
receptacle  than  the  leaves  used  in  Soconusco,  or  the  clay  used  in 
Brazil.  I  think  it  very  probable  that  such  instruments,  if  they  are  not 
yet  used,  soon  will  be,  in  view  of  the  need  there  is  for  them,  and  the 


Coat  of  a  IRubber  plantation*  393 

advances  that  are  being  daily  made  in  the  manufacture  of  agricultural 
implements. 

To  prevent  the  tree  from  dying  in  consequence  of  the  incisions  re- 
ferred to,  it  is  indispensable  to  observe  two  things  carefully:  first,  the 
incision  must  not  go  beyond  the  bark,  for  if  the  woody  part  is  injured, 
the  tree  may  die;  second,  such  incision  should  not  isolate  the  lower 
from  the  upper  portion  of  the  bark,  as,  in  that  case,  the  sap  being  un- 
able to  ascend  to  the  upper  part  of  the  tree,  this  also  would  cause  its 
death.  It  is  also  necessary  that  the  tapping  be  not  too  frequent. 

There  are  some  who  think  that  to  yield  a  greater  quantity  of  sap, 
the  tree  requires  several  incisions,  or  a  single  one  in  spiral  form  around 
its  entire  length;  while  others  express  the  opinion,  better  founded, 
perhaps,  that  a  single  incision  made  in  the  lower  part  is  sufficient,  as 
the  force  of  gravity  causes  all  the  sap  to  run  down  without  much  injury 
to  the  tree. 

It  is  well  to  be  careful,  after  all  the  sap  is  taken  out,  to  heal  the 
wounds  made  by  the  incisions,  by  covering  them  with  wax,  woollen 
stuffs,  or  clay. 

VI. 
PROBABLE  COST  OF  A  PLANTATION  OF  RUBBER-TREES.1 

It  seems  proper,  before  concluding  this  paper,  and  with  the  object 
of  furnishing  the  greatest  amount  of  information  relating  to  the  prac- 
tical points  concerning  rubber,  to  present  an  estimate  of  the  probable 
cost  of  a  plantation.  It  must  be  remarked,  that  the  following  data  are 
based  upon  the  present  cost  of  agricultural  operations  in  Soconusco, 
and  were  given  to  me  by  Senor  Don  Sebastian  Escobar,  of  Tapachula 
— an  experienced  agriculturist,  as  I  have  already  stated,  and  thoroughly 
acquainted  with  everything  pertaining  to  agriculture  in  that  district. 

The  cost  would  vary  according  to  the  proximity  of  the  trees,  and 
also,  according  to  whether  the  soil  has  been  prepared  exclusively  for 
planting  rubber-trees,  and  not  for  anything  else,  such  as  cotton,  as 
has  been  already  indicated.  Supposing  that  the  plantation  is  to  con- 
tain ten  thousand  trees,  and  that  they  are  placed  at  a  distance  of  three 
yards  from  each  other,  applying  the  measurement  used  in  Soconusco, 
it  will  result  that  a  cuerda,  the  unit  of  the  standard  agrarian  measure  of 
that  district,  forming  a  square  of  twenty-five  yards  on  each  side,  or  an 

1 1  have  to  repeat  here  what  I  said  in  the  introduction  of  this  book,  namely,  that 
conditions  have  changed  in  Soconusco  so  much  since  this  paper  was  written,  especially 
in  the  price  of  land,  labor,  taxes,  etc.,  that  the  estimate  of  expenses  contained  in  this 
chapter,  while  correct  at  the  time  it  was  written,  would  be  now  four  or  five  times 
larger,  and  that  were  I  to  write  this  paper  again,  I  would  make  much  more  con- 
servative the  estimate  of  the  rubber  produced,  which  so  far  was  only  guesswork. 


394  HnDia*lRubber  Culture  in 

area  of  a  little  over  six  hundred  and  twenty-five  square  yards,  will  con- 
tain eighty-seven  trees;  a  little  less  than  one  hundred  and  forty-one 
and  a  half  cuerdas  being  required  for  the  ten  thousand  trees;  and  if  the 
trees  are  placed  at  four  yards  apart,  fifty-two  and  a  half  trees  would  go 
in  each  cuerda  and  two  hundred  and  fifty-one  cuerdas  would  be  required 
for  the  ten  thousand  trees ;  and  if  the  planting  is  made  at  a  distance 
of  five  yards  apart,  there  will  be  thirty-six  trees  in  a  cuerda,  and  it  will 
require  three  hundred  and  ninety-two  and  a  half  cuerdas  for  ten  thou- 
sand trees.  In  that  case,  including  the  price  of  the  land,  the  cost  will 
be  as  follows: 

Planted  at  a  distance  of  three  yards  apart :  The  value  of  141^  cuerdas  of 
land,  or  a  little  less  than  six  and  a  half  hectares,  at  25  cents  a  hec- 
tare, the  price  fixed  in  the  tariff  of  the  Department  of  Fomento,  on 
the  1st  of  January  of  the  present  year,  for  1872  and  1873,  f°r  unculti- 
vated lands  situated  in  the  State  of  Chiapas,  one  hundred  per  cent,  for 
the  expenses  of  surveying,  stamped  paper,  title,  etc. ,  at  which  price  a 

great  deal  of  private  land  can  also  be  purchased $3  25 

Clearing  the  land,  at  50  cents  per  cuerda 70  5a 

Planting,  at  the  rate  of  25  cents  per  cuerda 35  25 

Removing  the  weeds,  brushwood,  etc.,  for  six  years,  at  25  cents  per  cuerda 

for  each  removal,  at  $36.25  for  five  removals 176  25 

Total  cost $285  25 

To  keep  the  grove  six  years,  until  it  is  in  condition  to  produce  rubber. 

If  planting  is  done  at  a  distance  of  four  yards,  it  will  cost : 
Value  of  251  cuerdas  of  land,  or  u£  hectares,  at  25  cents,  adding  the  above 

charges $5  75 

Clearing  the  land 125  50 

Planting 62  72 

Five  removals  of  weeds  in  six  years 313  75 

Total  cost $507  72 

Should  the  grove  be  planted  at  a  distance  of  five  yards,  it  will  cost : 
Value  of  392^  cuerdas  of  land,  or  17$  hectares,  at  25  cents  per  hectare, 

adding  the  charges  indicated $8  76 

Clearing  the  land iQ6  25 

Planting 98  12 

Five  removals  of  weeds  in  six  years 49°  62 

Total  cost $793  75 

The  cost  of  each  tree  would  be,  during  the  six  years,  including  the 
value  of  the  land  : 

Planted  at  a  distance  of  three  yards,  a  little  less  than  three  cents  each. 
Planted  at  a  distance  of  four  yards,  a  little  more  than  five  cents  each. 
Planted  at  a  distance  of  five  yards,  a  little  less  than  eight  cents  each. 

It  must  be  remarked  that  the  expenses  will  not  be  made  at  the  same 
time,  but  gradually  during  the  six  years. 


•Rubber  in  para,  Brasil,  395 


The  planting  of  one  hundred  thousand  trees  would  cost  respect- 
ively : 

$2,852.50,  when  done  at  a  distance  of  three  yards. 
$5,077.50,  at  a  distance  of  four  yards. 
$7,937.50,  at  a  distance  of  five  yards. 

After  six  years,  the  yield  will  be  as  follows  : 
Ten  thousand  trees,  at  a  minimum  rate  of  six  pounds  of  sap  each,  will  give 
60,000  pounds,  which,  reduced  to  rubber,  supposing  that  56$  is  lost  by 
evaporation,  will  leave  26,400  pounds  of  rubber,  the  cost  of  which,  as 
calculated  by  Senor  Escobar,  is  at  the  rate  of  three  cents  a  pound.  The 
rubber  sold  on  the  place  of  production  at  45  cents  a  pound,  after  the 
deduction  already  referred  to,  will  give  for  the  26,400  pounds  ........  $11,880  OO 

Deducting  the  expenses  of  cultivation,  at  the  rate  of  three  cents  a  pound, 

according  to  the  information  furnished  by  Senor  Escobar  ...........         792  oo 

Leaving  as  a  profit  for  the  first  year  ......................  $11,088  oo 

Considering  that  the  yield  of  rubber  has  been  calculated  at  the 
minimum  rate  of  production,  and  that  it  will  necessarily  increase  every 
succeeding  year,  to  the  extent  of  being  three  or  four  times  greater  than 
in  the  first,  it  is  impossible  to  ignore  the  great  future  of  that  important 
source  of  public  wealth. 

VII. 

INFORMATION  RELATING  TO  RUBBER  IN  THE  PROVINCE  OF 
PARA,  IN  BRAZIL. 

Considering,  as  I  said  before,  that  as  the  Province  of  Para,  in  Bra- 
zil, is  the  locality  producing  the  greatest  quantity  of  rubber  and  of  the 
best  quality  known,  due,  in  some  manner,  to  the  way  in  which  it  is  ex- 
tracted, that  it  might  be  the  product  of  a  cultivated  tree,  and  wishing  to 
obtain  all  the  data  possible  upon  that  important  branch  of  commerce, 
I  addressed  during  my  stay  in  Soconusco  the  following  letter  to  Mr. 
James  B.  Bond,  United  States  Consul  at  Para  :  1 

1  My  letter  and  Mr.  Bond's  answer  were  written  in  English,  and  translated  into 
Spanish,  in  the  Spanish  edition  of  this  paper  made  in  1872.  Now  they  have  been  re- 
translated into  English  from  the  Spanish  translation,  and  therefore,  although  their 
meaning  has  not  been  changed,  the  wording  must  necessarily  be  very  different  from  the 
original  English  text. 

When  I  published,  in  the  City  of  Mexico,  in  December,  1872,  my  paper  on  India- 
rubber  culture,  I  sent  a  copy  of  the  same  to  Mr.  James  B.  Bond,  United  States  Consul 
at  Para,  Brazil,  and  made  further  inquiries  from  him  on  rubber  in  Brazil.  My  letter 
was  received  by  him  in  Para  when  he  was  no  longer  United  States  Consul  there,  but 
was  getting  ready  to  return  home,  and  when  Mr.  Charles  M.  Travis  was  fulfilling  the 
duties  of  that  office.  Mr.  Bond  answered  my  letter  in  Para  on  January  8,  1873, 
giving  me  additional  information  which  he  had  collected  while  there,  and  on  his  arrival 
in  New  York  he  addressed  me  another  letter  with  a  similar  purpose,  dated  February 
26,  1873.  I  also  received  a  letter  from  Mr.  Travis  dated  at  Para,  January  21,  1873,  on 
the  same  subject,  and  considering  these  letters  of  interest  I  append  them  to  this  paper. 


396  Un&ia^lRubber  Culture  in  fl&ejico. 

44  TAPACHULA,  SOCONUSCO,  MEXICO, 
4 '  September  26,  1872. 

11  James  B.  Bond,  Esq.,  United  States  Consul,  Pard,  Brazil  : 

"  DEAR  SIR  : — I  beg  you  to  pardon  the  liberty  I  take  in  asking  you  for  some  informa- 
tion relating  to  the  culture  of  the  rubber- tree  in  the  Province  of  Para,  in  the  Empire 
of  Brazil,  that  branch  of  agricultural  industry  being  destined  to  a  great  future  in 
Mexico.  I  will  thank  you  very  much  if  you  will  do  me  the  favor  to  furnish  me  with 
whatever  data  you  may  have  upon  the  following  points  : 

44  i.  Is  the  rubber-tree  wild  or  cultivated  in  Para? 

"  2.  When  forming  a  plantation  of  rubber-trees,  are  the  seeds  sown,  are  slips 
planted,  or  are  saplings  transplanted  ? 

"  3.  How  long  does  it  take  for  the  tree  to  produce  rubber  after  being  planted? 

11  4.  What  is  the  yield  of  a  tree  per  year? 

44  5.  How  often  is  the  rubber  extracted  from  the  tree  ? 

44  6.  What  is  the  best  way  to  extract  the  rubber  without  injuring  the  tree  ? 

44  7.  How  many  different  kinds  of  rubber  are  produced  in  Para,  and  what  are 
their  particular  qualities  ? 

44  8.  At  what  distance  from  each  other  must  the  trees  be  planted  ? 

14  9.  Does  the  rubber-tree  require  to  be  planted  in  the  sun  or  in  the  shade  for  its 
best  development  ? 

44 10.  What  climate  and  soil  are  most  favorable  to  rubber-trees  ? 

11 II.  What  is  the  height  of  rubber-trees,  and  the  diameter  of  the  trunks  at  dif- 
ferent ages  ? 

44  12.  What  is  the  estimated  value  of  each  tree,  and  what  the  cost  of  extracting  the 
rubber  ? 

44 13.  What  is  the  annual  production  of  rubber  in  Brazil  ? 

44 1  will  be  very  much  obliged  to  you  if  you  will  have  the  kindness  to  answer  in 
detail,  as  far  as  may  be  possible,  each  of  the  preceding  questions,  addressing  your 
communication  to  this  place,  via  Panama,  by  the  Pacific  Mail  steamers,  or  through 
the  Legation  of  the  United  States  in  Mexico. 

44 1  am,  sir,  very  respectfully,  your  obedient  servant, 

44M.  ROMERO." 

On  my  return  to  the  City  of  Mexico,  I  received  the  following 
answer  to  the  above  letter  : 

44  NEW  YORK,  October  22,  1872. 
"  Senor  DonMatfas  Romero,  Tapachula,  Mexico  : 

44  DEAR  SIR,— I  received  your  letter  of  the  24th  of  September  last,  and,  although  I 
am  no  longer  consul  at  Para,  having  resigned  that  position  last  year,  and  as  the  new 
appointee  has  not  yet  reached  his  post,  and  could  not  probably  answer  your  questions 
until  well  acquainted  with  that  country,  I  shall  give  you  all  the  information  in  my 
power  that  can  interest  you. 

44 1.  The  rubber-tree  is  a  spontaneous  product  of  nature  in  Brazil,  and  unculti- 
vated. 

44  2.  It  can  grow  from  seeds,  but  then,  to  reach  maturity,  it  will,  of  course,  re- 
quire a  longer  time  than  if  propagated  by  transplanting. 

4<  3.  The  time  required  for  the  planted  tree  to  be  in  a  proper  state  to  extract  the 
rubber  profitably,  depends,  necessarily,  upon  the  quality  of  the  soil  and  other  favor- 
able conditions  for  its  development.  In  the  localities  where  it  has  been  extracted  for 


•Rubber  in  para,  Brasil.  397 


some  time,  the  men  employed  are  using  to-day  the  most  slender  trees  and  even  the 
shoots  ;  and  I  have  been  assured  that  this  custom,  and  that  of  not  letting  the  tree  have 
time  to  recuperate,  has  destroyed  those  that  were  the  most  accessibly  situated  on  the 
river  banks. 

"  But  little  reliance  can  be  placed  on  the  information  obtained  from  uneducated 
and  unobserving  persons  like  those  who  are  engaged  in  that  trade  ;  when  I  asked  how 
long  it  would  take  for  a  tree,  under  ordinary  conditions,  to  reach  a  vigorous  maturity, 
I  was  told  from  ten  to  fifteen  years. 

"  4.  The  exact  yield  that  each  tree  can  give  has  never  been  known,  although  I  have 
asked  it  often  of  the  workmen.  It  is  evident  that  much  must  depend  upon  its  size  and 
condition  ;  and,  probably,  upon  the  place  where  it  has  been  growing.  It  is  generally 
believed  that  the  trees  which  yield  the  most,  are  those  whose  roots  are  periodically 
submerged,  but  I  also  have  been  assured  that  there  is  a  species  of  trees  which  grow  in 
high  altitudes  and  give  good  sap,  though  not  abundantly.  The  tree  is  centenary,  and 
attains  great  dimensions  under  favorable  circumstances,  both  as  to  the  locality  and 
age. 

"  To  answer  your  question  to  the  best  of  my  knowledge,  I  will  say,  that  many 
persons  have  told  me  that  the  trees  from  which  no  rubber  has  been  previously  ex- 
tracted, yield,  in  the  season,  as  much  as  sixteen  pounds.  Others  have  given  double 
that  quantity,  and  some  only  seven  pounds  when  they  had  been  tapped  before. 

"5.  In  Brazil  rubber  is  extracted  from  the  trees  annually.  An  earthen  vase  is 
fixed  to  the  tree  below  the  incision  to  receive  the  sap.  The  workman  who  makes  this 
same  operation  on  a  certain  number  of  them,  collects  daily  the  sap  contained  in  the 
vases  ;  and,  returning  to  his  hut,  smokes  it  in  the  evening,  and  during  the  night,  a 
process  which  is  used  to  harden  it.  In  the  rainy  season  the  rivers  rise  and  generally 
inundate  the  places  where  the  works  are  going  on  ;  if  that  does  not  happen,  the  con- 
stant rains  prevent  the  clay  from  adhering  to  the  trees,  which,  for  this  reason,  are  left 
untouched  until  the  return  of  the  dry  season.  The  information  I  have  been  able  to 
obtain  leads  me  to  believe,  that  although  incisions  are  made  all  over  the  tree,  they  do 
not  cause  it  any  serious  injury,  or,  at  least,  the  harm  done  to  it  is  much  slower  in  its 
effects.  I  consider  this  as  a  sufficient  answer  to  your  sixth  question. 

"  7.  Three  kinds  of  rubber  are  produced  in  Para,  fine,  middling,  and  ordinary, 
or  negro  head.  The  medium  is  somewhat  impure  or  adulterated,  and  frequently  con- 
tains a  mixture  of  smoked  and  fresh  rubber.  The  ordinary  one  consists  principally  of 
the  waste  or  scrapings  taken  out  of  the  vases  already  mentioned,  or  of  pieces  which 
became  hard  when  the  sap  flowed  from  the  incisions.  All  this  is  mixed  with  the 
sap,  sometimes  imperfectly  smoked,  and  sold  with  all  its  impurities.  The  value  of 
rubber  varies.  The  middling  quality  is  generally  worth  from  one  to  two  dollars  less 
than  the  fine  one,  per  arroba  of  thirty-two  pounds,  but  little  of  it  is  put  on  the  market. 
The  ordinary  kind  is  always  in  great  demand.  From  last  accounts,  the  difference  in 
the  price  of  one  or  the  other  class  was  from  seventeen  to  twenty-six  milreis  per  arroba 
of  thirty-two  pounds. 

"8.  As  no  plantations  have  been  made,  I  cannot  tell  at  what  distance  the  trees 
ought  to  be  separated.  However,  as  they  grow  wild,  and  their  value  would  increase 
according  to  their  growth  and  size,  I  would  plant  them  twenty-four  feet  apart  from 
each  other.  To  utilize  the  land  between  them,  I  would  plant  some  cacao,  which  would 
give  sufficient  shade  to  the  saplings,  and  produce  a  revenue  several  years  before  the 
rubber-tree  reaches  its  maturity.  This  idea  is  simply  speculative,  although  confirmed 
by  various  opinions  of  more  or  less  value,  which  I  obtained  incidentally. 

"  10.  I  am  unable  to  inform  you  as  to  the  most  proper  soil  and  climate  for  the  de- 
velopment of  the  rubber-tree.  It  grows  in  the  valley  of  the  Amazon,  preferring  damp 
places  or  those  liable  to  be  inundated  along  the  water-course.  The  species  found  in 


398  fnfcia*1Rul)ber  Culture  in  dDejfco. 

the  upper  Amazon,  the  Madeira,  and  Purus  rivers,  is  the  most  valuable,  but  it  is  due, 
perhaps,  to  the  fact  that  the  particular  kind  of  fuel  used  to  smoke  the  rubber  is  more 
abundant,  or,  perhaps,  because  in  that  region  the  rubber  is  sent  only  after  the  rising  of 
the  rivers  ;  and  for  that  reason  reaches  the  market  in  a  drier  condition.  I  doubt  whether 
there  is  much  difference  in  its  intrinsic  quality. 

"  I  must  say,  however,  that  there  are  various  kinds  of  trees  that  produce  rubber, 
or  substances  very  much  like  it,  but  more  or  less  inferior  to  each  other  in  elasticity,  and 
which  are  not  in  great  demand  on  the  market  when  they  arrive  in  large  quantities.  It 
has  not,  as  yet,  been  positively  determined  if  the  difference  results  from  the  intrinsic 
qualities  or  from  a  distinct  care  taken  in  the  preparation.  Of  that  kind  is  the  rubber 
called  Rio  Prieto.  I  also  have  received  some  rubber  from  Venezuela  by  way  of  the 
Orinoco.  I  believe  that  the  tree  possesses  sufficient  vitality  to  develop  itself  in  climates 
of  very  changeable  temperatures,  from  a  tropical  to  a  temperate  one. 

"  12.  The  rubber-tree  has  no  value  in  Brazil ;  anybody  can  go  into  the  forests  of  the 
public  domain,  select  and  clear  a  plot  of  ground,  which  he  can  claim  afterward  as  his 
own,  provided  he  does  not  abandon  it  beyond  a  certain  time.  It  must  not  be  supposed, 
however,  that  the  prospector  for  rubber  obtains  his  plot  without  trouble  :  the  forest  is 
dense,  the  jungles  are  very  thick,  and  the  trees  do  not  grow  close  to  each  other  as  in 
our  oak  or  pine  forests,  but  are  scattered,  and  difficult  of  access,  until  paths  are  made 
to  reach  them.  The  transportation  of  laborers  and  provisions  to  the  place,  must  be 
considered  as  another  expense  for  the  exploitation. 

"  I  cannot  tell  how  much  the  rubber  costs  to  the  producer.  This  must  depend 
upon  the  wages  of  the  workmen,  the  price  of  their  provisions  (flour  of  manioc  being 
the  principal  article),  and  other  circumstances.  About  six  or  eight  years  ago,  it  was 
said,  but  I  do  not  know  if  it  was  true,  that  the  producer  was  repaid  at  a  price  from 
12,000  to  14,000  reis  the  arroba.  Since  then  the  cost  of  living  in  Para  is  much 
higher  ;  the  price  of  rubber  rose  to  48,000  reis  the  arroba,  and  went  down  to  22,000 
during  the  last  three  years.  I  believe,  though  I  may  be  mistaken,  that  the  producer 
would  receive  a  good  price  for  his  rubber,  at  the  rate  of  20,000  reis  ($10)  the  arroba. 

"  I  see  no  reason  to  think  that  the  production  is  decreasing.  The  majority  of  the 
trees  are  not  injured,  at  least  not  seriously,  by  the  extraction  of  rubber  made  from 
them.  The  forests,  at  all  events,  will  remain  inexhaustible  for  many  years  to  come. 
New  plantations  are  being  formed  gradually  as  the  old  ones  are  exhausted ;  and  I 
believe  that  the  closer  relations  between  Bolivia  and  the  valley  of  the  Amazon  will 
furnish  to  Brazil  the  only  element  it  needed  until  now  to  increase  its  facilities  of  produc- 
tion. In  treating  this  question,  many  thoughts  that  are  as  speculative  as  practical, 
arise  in  one's  mind  ;  but  the  time  is  wanting  to  develop  them,  and  the  subject  proba- 
bly may  not  interest  you.  I  am,  sir, 

"  Your  obedient  servant, 

(Signed)  "  JAMES  B.  BOND." 

VIII. 
DATA  ON  THE  RUBBER  OF  ASSAM,  IN  ASIA. 

In  the  latest  edition  of  his  Dictionary  of  Arts,  Manufactures,  and 
Mines,  Dr.  Andrew  Ure  gives  much  important  information  regarding 
the  rubber  of  Assam,  a  province  of  India,  tributary  to  Great  Britain, 
situated  beyond  Grafes  in  the  valley  of  the  river  Brahmapootra  between 
25°  45'  and  28°  15'  latitude  north,  and  90°  35'  and  96°  50'  longitude 


IRubber  tn  Bssam,  Bsia,  399 

east  of  the  meridian  of  Greenwich.  I  deem  it  useful  to  insert  here  the 
principal  data. 

A  short  time  ago,  Mr.  William  Griffith  published  a  report  upon  the 
Asiatic  rubber-tree  called  Ficus  elastica,  in  which  he  stated  that  it  was 
sometimes  found  isolated,  at  other  times  in  pairs,  and  at  others  in 
groups  of  three.  It  is  larger  and  gives  more  shade  than  all  the  other 
trees  of  the  forest  where  it  is  found ;  and  can  be  distinguished  from  them 
at  a  distance  of  several  miles  by  its  picturesque  appearance,  due  to 
the  great  height  and  dense  foliage  of  its  top.  The  trunk  of  one  that 
was  carefully  measured,  had  a  circumference  of  74  feet;  the  area  of  its 
branches  a  circumference  of  610  feet;  and  its  height  was  100  feet.  On 
an  area  of  30  miles  long  by  8  miles  wide,  near  Ferozpoor,  in  the  dis- 
trict of  Chardwar,  in  Assam,  43,240  trees  of  that  kind  were  counted. 

Lieutenant  Weitch  afterward  discovered  that  the  Ficus  elastica  was 
equally  abundant  in  the  district  of  Naudwoor,  where  it  is  met  with  on 
the  brow  of  the  hills  at  an  altitude  above  the  level  of  the  sea  calcu- 
lated to  be  22,500  feet. 

The  sap  of  the  Ficus  elastica  of  Chardwar  is  better  in  the  old  trees 
than  in  the  young  ones,  and  more  abundant  in  winter  than  in  summer. 
It  is  drawn  off  by  means  of  incisions  in  the  bark,  around  the  trunk  and 
the  branches,  as  far  as  the  top,  and  at  a  distance  of  one  foot  from  each 
other.  The  quantity  of  the  sap  increases  in  proportion  to  the  height 
of  the  incisions.  The  liquid  flowing  from  them  is  of  the  same  con- 
sistency as  that  of  cream  and  extremely  white.  Each  tree  yields  forty- 
two  pounds  for  every  extraction ;  that  is  to  say,  every  fortnight.  The 
sap  contains  from  four  to  six  tenths  of  water  and  from  six  to  four 
tenths  of  rubber. 

Mr.  Griffith  affirms  that  the  best  kind  is  obtained  from  incisions 
made  in  the  woody  parts  of  the  large  roots  that  are  a  little  above  the 
surface.  Below  the  line  of  the  incisions,  the  inhabitants  of  Assam  dig 
a  hole  in  the  ground  in  which  they  put  a  leaf  of  the  Phrynium  cdpitalum 
rudely  shaped  as  a  vase. 

The  United  Rubber  Co.  of  London  has  recommended  that  the  sap 
of  the  ficus  elastica  be  put  in  bottles  of  from  i£  to  2\  inches  in 
diameter,  and  from  4  to  5  inches  long;  but  in  Mr.  Griffith's  opinion, 
this  is  the  worst  way  to  prepare  rubber  because  it  requires  more 
manipulation,  causes  the  rubber  to  become  black  in  drying,  and  does 
not  prevent  the  viscosity  of  the  sap  when  exposed  to  the  sun.  He  ad- 
vises, as  the  best  method,  to  work  it  by  hand,  to  wash  it  in  water  and 
to  press  it. 

It  has  already  been  shown  that  the  rubber  called  Ficus  elastica  is  in- 
ferior in  quality  to  the  American  species  called  Siphonia  elastica  y  and, 
for  this  reason,  cannot  compete  with  it. 


400 


1FnMa*1Rubber  Culture  in 


IX 


STATISTICAL  DATA   RELATING  TO  RUBBER. 

It  seems  proper  to  conclude  this  paper  by  giving  some  statistics 
which  will  tend  to  demonstrate  the  importance  of  the  production  of, 
and  trade  in,  rubber. 

The  following  figures,  taken  from  the  article  on  "  Caoutchouc,"  in 
Appletori s  New  American  Encyclopedia^  show  the  import  and  export  of 
rubber  to  the  United  States,  from  June  30,  1856,  to  June  30,  1857. 


1856. 

Import  of  manufactured  rubber ....         $97,796 

Export  of  crude  rubber 1,045,576 


Total 


Re-export  of  manufactured  rubber  ................... 

Re-export  of  crude  rubber  .......................... 

Export  of  rubber  shoes  in  1856,  685,220  pairs  ;  in  1857, 
537,328  pairs  .................................. 

Export  of  other  rubber  articles  ...................... 


$18,379 
120,802 

427,936 
665,602 


Total  export  from  the  United  States  ......    $1,232,719 


1857- 
$180,585 
832,058 

$1,012,643 

$62,593 
64,491 


312,387 


770,596 


From  January  i,  to  June  i,  1857,  England  imported  5433  quintals 
(cwt.)  of  rubber,  and  for  the  same  period  in  1858,  9115  quintals 
(cwt.). 

In  the  article  on  Para,  in  the  same  Encyclopaedia,  it  appears  that  the 
export  of  rubber  from  that  place,  in  1856,  was  4,696,829  pounds. 

In  the  report  already  quoted,  on  the  commercial  relations  between 
the  United  States  and  foreign  nations,  for  the  year  ending  the  3oth  of 
September,  1870,  the  following  data  are  given  (page  65)  on  the  export 
of  rubber  from  Para  during  1869: 


Quantity. 

d 

^j3 
'cS 
> 

Additional 
value  of 
40  %. 

•a 
i 

To  Great  Britain  (arrobas  of  32  pounds).  
To  the  United  States  (arrobas  of  32  pounds). 
To  other  countries  (arrobas  of  32  pounds)  .  . 

Total  

158,432 

179,394 
19,829 

$1,736,490 
2,083,465 
221,175 

$694,596 
833,386 
88,470 

$2,431,086 
2,916,851 
309,645 

357,655 

$4,041,130 

$1,616,452 

$5,657,582 

In  the  same  report  is  found  the  following  very  important  table, 
showing  the  annual  export  of  rubber  from  Para,  from  1851  to  1870: 


Statistical  Data  on  IRubber.  401 

EXPORT  OF  RUBBER  FROM  PARA,  FROM  1851  TO  1870. 


DESTINATION. 

1851. 

1852. 

1853. 

1854. 

United  States 

airobas. 
52  848 

arrobas. 
40  251 

arrobas. 
Q4  2O  I 

arrobas. 
IO4  184 

England                     

30,  485 

45,573 

yv«*v 

38.243 

55,444 

France   

4,26q 

9,330 

3,446 

4,548 

Other  ports  

4,573 

9,750 

2,213 

2,063 

Total  

02.1715 

113,904 

138,103 

166,239 

DESTINATION. 

1855- 

1856. 

1857. 

1858. 

United  States  

arrobas. 
83  067 

arrobas. 
71  760 

arrobas. 
40  Q23 

arrobas. 
53.I4Q 

England         

C6,732 

65.046 

54.307 

48,844 

France  

4,782 

9,732 

6,784 

4,343 

Other  ports    

6  067 

502 

5.583 

8,114 

Total  

150,648 

147,130 

116,687 

114,450 

DESTINATION. 

1859. 

1860. 

1861. 

1862. 

United  States 

arrobas. 
8c  2Q2 

arrobas. 
72  IQ5 

arrobas. 
31  864 

arrobas. 
54.O4I 

England  

55,436 

60  QO3 

IOO,II2 

93,535 

5,733 

8,378 

0,Q07 

8,423 

Other  ports                   .     . 

2  823 

Q  682 

5  56o 

13.137 

Total  

149,284 

160,158 

147,542 

169,137 

DESTINATION. 

1863. 

1864. 

1865. 

1866. 

United  States  .    ... 

arrobas. 

82  356 

arrobas. 
71  260 

arrobas. 
04,263 

arrobas. 
106,491 

England      

118  408 

140,352 

140,138 

154,457 

France  

4.Q4Q 

18,547 

11,787 

2I,9IO 

4,853 

4,811 

10,175 

11,742 

Total   

2IO  656 

243,070 

256,363 

294,600 

DESTINATION. 

1867. 

1868. 

1869. 

1870. 

United  States 

arrobas. 
1-14  a  jc 

arrobas. 
121,908 

arrobas. 
182,030 

arrobas. 

France  

165,510 

213,142 

180,548 

158,432 

Total                 

2QQ  834 

335  O5O 

363  487 

158,432 

The  arroba  contains  32  pounds. 


402  fln&ia*1Rubber  Culture  in  /iDejtco, 

x. 

CONCLUSION. 

In  my  opinion,  what  precedes  is  sufficient  to  demonstrate  incon- 
testably  the  great  future  of  rubber  culture  in  Mexico,  and  the  large 
profits  it  would  yield  after  a  few  years  to  those  who  would  devote 
themselves  to  that  industry.  It  may  be  affirmed,  without  any  exagger- 
ation, that  neither  cocoa,  tea,  coffee,  sugar-cane,  henequen,  indigo, 
nor  any  other  tropical  product,  would  give  the  same  profits  as  rubber, 
and  the  returns  from  each  of  these  enterprises  are,  in  reality,  equal 
to  those  obtained  from  a  rich  mine. 

When  that  culture  is  propagated  in  Mexico,  it  will  open  up  a  source 
of  inexhaustible  wealth  that  will  change  the  fate  of  the  rubber-growing 
districts,  which,  from  being  poor  and  miserable  as  they  now  are,  will 
become  rich  and  opulent  when  that  plant  begins  to  produce.  Anyone 
in  a  situation  enabling  him  to  make  a  rubber  plantation  of  greater  or 
less  extent  may  undertake  it  at  once  with  the  full  conviction  that  it  is 
the  safest  and  most  lucrative  industry.  While  the  coffee,  cocoa,  sugar- 
cane, or  any  other  plantation,  in  favorable  years  and  under  good  con- 
ditions, can  give  a  return  of  one  hundred  per  cent,  on  the  capital 
invested  in  the  year,  not  upon  the  capital  expended  in  preparing  the 
plantation,  including  the  value  of  the  land,  one  of  rubber  will  give 
over  one  thousand  per  cent.,  not  alone  upon  the  cost  of  the  extraction, 
but  upon  the  first  capital  invested,  including  the  value  of  the  land. 

I  shall  consider  my  efforts  amply  rewarded,  if  the  data  contained 
in  this  paper  shall  in  any  way  realize  the  object  I  had  in  view  in 
writing  it,  and  which  is  to  create  among  our  agriculturists  the  desire  to 
plant  fields  of  rubber-trees  in  suitable  localities.  By  so  doing  they 
will  be  assured  of  a  bright  future,  and  contribute  on  a  large  scale  to 
increase  the  wealth  of  the  country,  to  promote  the  welfare  and  pros- 
perity of  places  where  to-day  poverty  reigns,  and  where  it  can  scarcely 
be  said  that  civilization  has  penetrated. 

I  shall  be  very  glad  if  persons  of  knowledge  and  experience  in  this 
important  branch  of  public  wealth  fix  their  attention  upon  this  subject, 
and,  by  their  writings,  contribute  to  the  great  object  that  I  have 
simply  indicated,  correct  the  errors  contained  in  this  paper,  and  supply 
whatever  is  lacking  to  complete  it. 

MEXICO,  December  12,  1872. 


APPENDIX. 

I  append  now  the  two  letters  from  Mr.  James  B.  Bond,  United 
States  Consul  at  Para,  Brazil,  dated  at  that  city  on  January  8,  1873, 
and  New  York,  February  26,  of  the  same  year,  and  a  letter  from  Mr. 
Charles  M.  Travis,  the  successor  of  Mr.  Bond  in  that  Consulate,  dated 
at  Para  on  January  21,  1873,  the  two  former  containing  additional  in- 
formation about  rubber  in  that  rich  Brazilian  province,  and  to  which 
I  refer  in  the  foot-note  that  appears  on  page  395. 

CONSULATE  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES  AT  PARA,  BRAZIL, 

January  21,  1873. 
M.  ROMERO,  Tapachula,  Soconusco,  Mexico. 

DEAR  SIR  : 

Yours  of  Sept.  24,  1872,  was  duly  received,  and  not  being  as  well  acquainted  with 
the  India-rubber  tree,  its  cultivation  and  production,  as  my  friend  Mr.  James  Bond, 
ex-Consul  of  the  United  States  at  this  port,  I  addressed  him  requesting  the  answers  to 
your  inquiries,  and  such  other  information  as  he  could  give  you.  I  enclose  herewith 
his  letter  to  me,  which  I  hope  you  will  find  entirely  satisfactory.  I  would  be  greatly 
obliged  to  you  if  you  would  inform  me  of  the  result  of  any  attempts  that  your  people 
make  to  cultivate  the  India-rubber  tree  in  Mexico.  I  can  assure  you  that  my  motives 
in  wishing  this  information  are  entirely  for  the  purpose  of  a  thorough  acquaintance  with 
the  cultivation  and  production  of  India-rubber  in  the  different  parts  of  Central  and 
South  America,  where  the  climate  may  be  suitable. 

I  trust  your  efforts  will  be  abundantly  successful,  and  that  you  will  do  me  the 
favor  to  communicate  with  me  the  efforts  being  made  and  the  result  to  introduce  into 
your  country  that  valuable  and  important  article  of  commerce.  If  I  can  furnish  you 
any  further  information  as  I  become  better  informed  myself,  it  will  be  a  pleasure  to  do 
50.  I  am,  sir,  very  respectfully, 

Your  obedient  servant, 

CHAS.  M.  TRAVIS,  U.  S.  Consul. 

PARA,  January  8,  1873. 
CHAS.  M.  TRAVIS,  ESQ.,  U.  S.  Consul. 

DEAR  SIR  : 

I  have  your  favor  of  this  date  enclosing  one  from  Mr.  Romero,  in  which  he  asks 
for  information  respecting  the  production  of  India-rubber  in  this  province. 
I  answer  his  questions  seriatim  : 

I.  The  India-rubber  tree  is  of  spontaneous  growth ;  it  is  never  planted  or  culti- 
vated here. 

403 


404  flnfcfas'lRubber  Culture  in  /iDejico. 

2.  The  tree  will  grow  from  the  seed  ;  the  latter  part  is  answered  above. 

3.  It  would  yield  the  milk  at  any  period  of  growth,  but  of  course  in  quantity  pro- 
portioned to  the  size  of  the  tree.     As  the  tree  has  never  been  cultivated,  no  systematic 
observation  has  been  made  in  regard  to  its  growth.     I  should  think,  however,  that  a 
plantation  would  not  be  ready  for  profitable  working  in  less  than  fifteen  years. 

4.  That  depends  upon  the  size  and  condition  of  the  tree.     New  trees  yield  better 
than  those  which  have  been  repeatedly  tapped.     A  seringal  is  considered  a  good  one  that 
will  yield  eighteen  pounds  a  day  per  100  trees.     The  proprietor  of  a  seringal,  if  he  has 
good  judgment  and  wishes  to  preserve  his  trees  in  good  condition,  will  give  them  an 
interval  of  repose  during  the  season.     It  is  not  safe,  if  the  seringal  is  to  be  worked 
year  after  year  consecutively,  to  tap  the  same  trees  daily  for  more  than  three  months 
of  the  six  which  make  the  crop  season. 

5.  Every  year  during  the  dry  season,  which  may  be  said  to  last  six  months,  vary- 
ing, however,  in  term  and  duration  in  different  parts  of  the  valley. 

6.  The  collector  having  cleared  paths  through  the  forests  from  tree  to  tree  (which 
is  no  light  job),  goes  his  rounds  in  the  morning,  and  beginning  as  high  up  as  he  can  reach, 
makes  with  a  hatchet  light  diagonal  cuts  about  six  inches  apart  all  round  the  body  of 
the  tree.     Under  each  of  these  he  sticks  a  small  cup  fashioned  of  damp  clay,  a  lump 
of  which  he  carries  with  him.     Each  collector  is  supposed  to  attend  to  one  hundred  trees. 
As  they  are  often  far  apart,  by  the  time  he  has  gotten  back  to  his  starting-place  and  taken 
his  meal,  it  is  necessary  to  go  his  round  again.     He  empties  the  little  clay  cups  into 
which  the  milk  has  trickled,  and  returns  with  it  to  his  hut.     The  next  day  he  makes 
other  cuts  about  six  inches  below  the  first  and  under  the  spaces  left  in  the  first  circle, 
and  so  on  every  day.     The  tree  bleeds  most  abundantly  as  the  cuts  descend.     Now  the 
smoking  process  must  commence,  or  the  milk  will  spoil.     This  is  done  by  means  of  a 
nut  called  urucuri,  which  burned  under  a  sort  of  inverted  funnel  gives  a  very  pungent 
ammoniacal  smoke.     A  sort  of  paddle  is  dipped  into  the  milk  and  passed  through  this 
smoke.     Layer  after  layer  is  thus  smoked  and  dried,  until  the  weight  becomes  unman- 
ageable.    An  incision  is  then  made  round  the  edge,  the  mould  taken  out,  and  the  pro- 
cess recommenced  until  the  milk  is  all  secured.     It  is  to  the  use  of  this  urucuri  that  the 
superior  quality  of  the  Para  rubber,  and  particularly  that  of  the  Madeira  River,  is 
attributed.     There  are  several  qualities  of  rubber-tree,  of  which  at  least  three  are  well 
known  to  the  ordinary  worker.     One  of  these  called  "the  white"  gives  little  or  no 
milk. 

7.  Answered  before.     They  are  found  scattered  through  the  forest  at  irregular  dis- 
tances.    In  some  places  and  in  some  districts  more  abundant  than  in  others,  but  never 
holding  almost  sole  possession  of  the  ground,  like  the  pine-  and  the  oak-trees  in  some 
parts  of  North  America. 

8.  I  should  think  it  would  require  shade,  in  early  periods  of  growth,  at  least. 

9.  It  must  be  less  exclusive  in  choice  of  climate  than  has  generally  been  supposed. 
Recently  it  is  said  to  have  been  found  as  far  south  as  Rio  de  Janeiro  and  Paraguay.    It 
grows  abundantly  far  up  the  river  Purus,  in  Bolivia,  where  the  climate  is  temperate, 
and  no  doubt  would  adapt  itself  to  most  countries  which  are  free  from  frost  in  winter  and 
have  a  long  and  hot  summer.     This,  however,  is  mere  conjecture.     I  have  no  doubt 
that  it  would  grow  in  Mexico,  and  even  in  Southern  California.     Here  it  is  found  to 
flourish  best  on  the  river-sides  where  the  roots  are  periodically  overflowed.     There  is,  I 
am  told,  an  upland  tree,  but  it  does  not  yield  so  well.     Too  much  dependence,  how- 
ever, must  not  be  placed  on  such  accounts.     The  workers  in  rubber  are  a  very  ignorant 
class,  not  apt  to  make  accurate  observations,  and  the  banks  of  the  rivers  are  almost  the 
only  parts  of  the  country  that  are  accessible. 

10.  The  height  I  do  not  know.     The  largest  of  which  I  have  any  account  was  five 
feet  in  diameter  ;  three  feet  would  probably  be  a  nearer  average. 


405 

ii.  The  price  depends  upon  the  cost  and  expenses  of  opening  the  seringal  on  pub- 
lic lands.  No  tax  is  imposed  on  the  worker.  Once  opened  and  worked  it  becomes 
the  property  of  the  person  who  has  cleared  it,  and  he  can  sell  it  to  another.  The  cost 
of  production  must,  of  course,  vary  with  many  circumstances  and  be  greater  in  one  part 
of  the  country  than  in  another.  The  producer  in  many  cases  sells  his  product  to  the 
country  store,  sometimes  taking  merchandise  in  return.  Sometimes  they  are  hired  in 
gangs.  The  price  of  farinha  de  Mandioca,  which  is  their  main  food,  must  enter  largely 
into  any  estimate  of  cost.  Taking  one  year  with  another,  I  made  an  estimate  six  or 
seven  years  ago  that  12  cts.,  or  14  cts.  ($6  or  $7),  p.  A.  of  32  Ibs.  would  pay  wages  to 
the  workman.  Since  then  the  cost  of  living  has  increased,  and  without  being  able  to 
make  anything  like  an  exact  calculation,  I  should  think  20  cts.,  or  $iop.  A.  of  32  Ibs., 
would  leave  good  wages,  one  year  with  another.  The  price  has  ranged  much  higher 
than  this.  The  export  last  year  was  370,000  A.  of  32  Ibs.  each. 

It  must  be  remembered  that  the  Brazilian  arroba  is  32  Ibs.  ;  not  like  the  Spanish, 
28  Ibs. 

There  are  three  qualities  of  rubber  : 

Fina  :  The  smoked  rubber  above  described. 

Entre-fina  :  Sells  for  about  $1.50  p.  A.  less  than  the  fina.  It  has  often  a  layer 
of  coagulated  milk  unsmoked,  or  it  may  have  some  adulteration  or  dirt. 

Sernamby  consists  of  the  thin  skin  which  dries  in  the  clay  cups  or  trickles  over  and 
hardens  on  the  tree.  These  pieces  are  rolled  in  a  ball  and  stuck  together  with  un- 
smoked milk.  In  the  English  markets  it  is  called  "  negro  head."  It  sells  usually  at  a 
difference  from  fina  of  say  10  cts.,  or  $5  p.  A. 

I  may  be  permitted  to  say  one  word  in  reference  to  the  effect  produced  upon  the 
condition  of  the  people  by  the  abundance  of  this  valuable  natural  production. 

In  my  opinion  it  would  be  better  for  the  people  if  the  tree  did  not  exist  in  its 
native  state.  As  it  is  not  cultivated,  the  laborer  does  not  see  in  its  yearly  growth  the 
increasing  fruit  of  his  industry.  He  is  not,  therefore,  encouraged  to  industrious  habits, 
or  induced  to  fix  his  habitation  permanently  on  the  soil  that  has  become  his  own  by 
right  of  the  labor  he  has  bestowed  on  it,  and  which,  in  increasing  value,  he  may  trans- 
mit to  his  children.  On  the  contrary,  he  is  tempted  to  neglect  regular  labor,  to  live 
from  hand  to  mouth  as  best  he  may  through  one-half  of  the  year,  looking  to  the  rapid 
gains  of  the  rubber  season  for  the  payment  of  his  debts.  The  surplus  is  for  the  most 
part  dissipated  in  orgies,  and  the  most  of  the  workmen  leave  the  seringals  with  little 
or  nothing  to  show  for  their  work. 

This,  of  course,  would  not  be  the  case  were  the  tree  regularly  cultivated  after  Mr. 
Romero's  idea.  It  remains  to  be  seen  whether  such  cultivation  would  compete  in 
cheapness  with  the  natural  product.  I  think  it  would  where  land  can  be  had  for  the 
asking. 

This,  I  believe,  is  all  I  can  say  to  meet  Mr.  Romero's  inquiries.  If  I  mistake  not, 
I  have  already  replied  to  most  of  the  above  questions  in  answer  to  a  letter  addressed 
me  by  the  Mexican  Legation  recently  in  New  York. 

Very  truly,  JAMES  B.  BOND. 

NEW  YORK,  February  26,  1873. 
M.  ROMERO,  ESQ.,  Mexico. 

DEAR  SIR  : 

I  have  much  pleasure  in  acknowledging  receipt  of  your  kind  favor  of  Dec.  2ist, 
and  of  the  Correo  in  which  your  report  is  published.  I  have  no  kind  of  objection  to 
the  publicity  given  to  the  meagre  information  which  I  had  it  in  my  power  to  contribute, 
and  write  now  principally  to  say  that  on  my  recent  visit  to  Para,  from  which  place  I 
returned  three  days  since,  my  friend,  the  U.  S.  Consul,  placed  in  my  hands  a  letter 


flnfcia*1Rubber  Culture  in 


from  you  containing  more  or  less  the  same  interrogatories  as  those  which  I  had  partially 
replied  to  here.  Being  on  the  spot,  I  was  able  to  refresh  my  memory  in  regard  to  cer- 
tain details,  and  I  hope  you  will  find  the  replies  more  full  and  more  satisfactory  than 
those  which  I  had  previously  the  pleasure  of  communicating.  Should  you  at  any  future 
time  get  the  rubber  nut  from  the  Amazon  region  for  plantation  in  Mexico,  be  particular 
in  the  selection.  Of  the  three  best-known  varieties,  that  which  gives  a  white  porous 
wood,  to  which  in  your  article  you  make  an  incidental  allusion,  is  by  far  the  least 
esteemed. 

The  suggestion  referred  to  as  made  by  certain  collectors  of  making  a  "spiral  cut 
round  the  body  of  the  tree,"  was  at  one  time  tried,  but  it  was  found  so  injurious  to  the 
tree  that  no  one  follows  this  method.  Indeed,  I  think  a  law  was  made  many  years  ago 
specially  to  prohibit  this  practice. 

In  the  letter  to  Mr.  Travis,  I  give  a  description  of  the  present  system  of  extraction. 

It  may  be  worth  while  to  say  that  a  few  years  since  a  French  gentleman  from 
Cayenne  employed  whisky  or  rum  of  a  certain  proof  (18°  or  20°,  I  think,  but  am  not  cer- 
tain) to  produce  immediate  separation  and  coagulation  of  the  milk.  I  have  heard  of 
an  herb  which  in  some  parts  of  Central  America  is  used  for  the  same  purpose. 

I  shall  be  very  happy  to  aid  you  in  the  enterprise  you  are  engaged  in  by  furnish- 
ing or  obtaining  information,  or  indeed  in  any  way  by  which  the  prosperity  of  our  sister 
republic  may  be  promoted. 

I  have  read  your  article  with  much  satisfaction,  and,  if  not  too  much  trouble, 
would  be  glad  to  receive  any  future  contributions  on  the  subject. 

I  remain,  dear  sir,  yours,  JAMES  B.  BOND. 


The  India-Rubber  World,  Vol.  XI.,  No.  6,  New  York  City,  March 
15,  1894  : 

To  the  Editor  of  the  "  India-Rubber  World": 

Will  you  be  so  kind  as  to  give  me  some  information  in  regard  to  planting  rubber- 
trees,  the  length  of  time  it  will  take  before  the  tree  can  be  tapped,  and  the  yield  of 
fluid  in  Mexico  ;  also  the  expense  ?  References  to  any  literature  on  the  subject  will 
be  gladly  received. 

EDGAR  ZEH,  M.D. 

WATERFORD,  N.  Y.,  February  12,  1894. 

[Mr.  F.  O.  Harriman  has  in  Mexico  a  plantation  of  rubber-trees  which,  he  esti- 
mates, will  yield  at  seven  years  a  larger  output  of  rubber  than  has  ever  been  gained 
from  the  wild  trees  of  that  section.  He  has  shown  to  the  editor  of  the  India-Rubber 
World  some  specimens  of  goods  manufactured  from  rubber  obtained  from  cultivated 
trees  four  years  old.  His  advice,  however,  is  not  to  tap  them  before  six  years,  after 
which  he  estimates  the  yearly  yield  at  three  pounds.  The  Mexican  Minister  at  Wash- 
ington, a  number  of  years  ago,  planted  some  rubber-trees  in  Soconusco,  with  the  idea 
that  the  trees  would  yield,  after  the  sixth  or  seventh  year,  about  three  pounds  each. 
His  estimate  of  the  cost  of  a  plantation  of  100,000  trees  up  to  the  productive  age — six 
years — was  about  $8,000.  Mr.  Harriman  has  cultivated  rubber  and  coffee  together,  so 
that  his  report  does  not  give  the  cost  of  rubber  culture  alone.  This  industry  is  in  the 
experimental  stage,  the  work  which  has  been  done  in  it  being  for  the  most  part  too 
recent  to  admit  of  conclusive  results.  There  is  little  to  be  said  in  regard  to  it  newer 
than  what  is  contained  in  a  little  book  entitled  India-Rubber  and  Gutta-Percha  :  Being 
a  Compilation  of  all  the  Available  Information  Respecting  the  Trees  Yielding  these 
Articles  of  Commerce  and  their  Cultivation.  Second  edition.  Colombo,  Ceylon : 
A.  M.  &  J.  Ferguson,  1887.  It  should  be  read  by  any  one  interested  before  investing 
in  rubber-planting. — THE  EDITOR.] 


INDEX  TO  GEOGRAPHICAL  AND 
STATISTICAL  NOTES. 


Agave,  where  found,  48  ;  use,  48,  49 
Agriculture,  products,  243,  244 
Alfalfa,  how  grown,  and  uses,  56 
Alligator  pear,  use,  63 
Americans   in   Mexico,    cannot  compete 

with  Spaniards  in  frugality,  79  ;  some 

Mexicans  were  afraid  the  country  would 

become  Americanized,  80 
Area,  of  Mexico,  5,  91  ;  of  silver  mines, 

13  ;  of  City  of  Mexico,  98,  107 
Army,  strength  of,  99,  100 


B 


Bananas,  where  grown,  cost,  yield,  and 

size,  61  ;  export  of,  variety,  an  article 

of  food,  62 
Bancroft,   H.  H.,  referred  to,  108  ;  his 

statistics  on  drainage  of  Mexico,  274 
Banks,  names  of,  131,  225,  226  ;  National 

Bank  of  Mexico,  131  ;  Bank  of  London 

and  Mexico,  132 
Bees,  71,  72 

Belize,  occupied  by,  6  ;  boundary  of,  7 
Birds,  71,  72 
Bolson  de  Mapimi,  12 
Boundary   of  Mexico,   with  the   United 

States,   5 ;    with  Guatemala,    6  ;  with 

Belize,  6,  7 
Brocklehurst,  109 
Bucyrus  Co.,  277 
Bustamante,  Don  Alejandro,  15 


Cables  in  Mexico,  where  located,  123 

Cactus,  species,  51 

Cadereita,  Marquis  of,  Viceroy,  273 

Canaigre,  use,  where  found,  55 

Canal,  size  of,  270,  278,  279  ;  lining  of, 
report  on,  271  ;  sum  appropriated  for 
building  of,  and  loan,  275  ;  contracted 
by,  articles  of  contract,  277,  278  ;  how 
work  carried  out,  278  ;  flow,  278,  279  ; 
length  of,  280 


Castillo,  Bernal  Diaz  del,  19 

Catholics,  wealth  of,  93,  94 

Cattle,  raising,  export  of,  56-8  ;  cost  of 
fattening,  lack  of  water,  57 

Cerralvo,  Marquis  de,  his  plan  in  regard- 
to  canal  and  tunnel,  272 

Cession  of  territory  to  the  United  States, 
by  the  treaty  of  Guadalupe  Hidalgo, 
by  the  Gadsden  treaty,  by  treaty  signed 
at  Washington  with  Mexico,  7,  8 

Charcoal,  4 

Chewing-gum,  demand,  production,  53  ; 
value,  54 

City  of  Mexico,  location  and  settlement 
of  old  city,  107,  108,  267-9  I  present 
city,  108,  109,  268  ;  public  buildings, 
109,  no  ;  factories,  no  ;  mortality,  in, 
114,  115,  279  ;  threatened  by  an  inun- 
dation in  1604,  often  flooded  in  the 
early  days,  269  ;  plan  to  change  capi- 
tal, 272 

Climate,  rainfall,  35,  36 ;  temperature, 
36,  37  ;  climatic  conditions,  37,  38  \ 
meteorological  observations  taken  in 
several  cities  of  Mexico,  38,  40,  41 ; 
meteorological  observations  taken  in 
several  localities  of  Mexico,  39  ;  Mex- 
ico as  a  sanitarium,  41,  42  ;  of  City  of 
Mexico,  no,  in;  meteorology  in  the 
Mexican  Republic,  in,  114;  climato- 
logical  data  of  the  City  of  Mexico,  112  ; 
summary  of  meteorological  observa- 
tions of  the  City  of  Mexico,  113  ;  good 
for  work,  128  ;  of  City  of  Mexico,  274,. 

275 

Clouds,  38 
Coal,  cost  of,  and  mining,  22  ;  coal-fields,, 

23-5 

Cochineal,  where  cultivated,  price,  53 
Cocoa,  where  produced,  51,  52  ;   disad- 
vantages of  raising,  52 
Cocoa-nuts,  where  grown,  use,  62,  63 
Coffee,  best  location,  production,  44,  45  r 
advantages  and  disadvantages  of  rais- 
ing, 127 

Coinage  of  precious  metals,  gold  and 
silver,  21  ;  mints,  27,  109 


407 


408 


Colleges  and  universities  established  by 
the  Spaniards,  100-102 

Copper,  quality,  amount  produced,  22,  23 

Cortez,  Hernan,  reference  to,  19,  55,  123, 
268,  269 

Cotton,  best  location,  expense  of  produc- 
tion, 48  ;  seed,  24 

Courts,  Supreme  Federal,  26 


Debt  of  Mexico,  bonds,  loans,  etc.,  129, 
130;  accomplishing  credit,  130;  amount 
of  debt,  130,  131  ;  National  debt  to 
June  30,  1896,  221,  222 

Dering,  Sir  Henry,  quotations  from,  47, 

54,  55,  64 

Diaz,  President,  referred  to,  115-18, 
122-4,  I3°  J  tribute  to,  280 

Dikes,  first  dike  in  1450,  267  ;  descrip- 
tion of,  by  Prescott,  268  ;  one  built  by 
Spaniards,  269 

Domestic  animals,  71,  72 

Drainage  works  of  the  Valley  of  Mexico, 
where  article  on,  was  first  published, 
how  long  to  complete  work,  266  ;  mag- 
nitude of  work,  267  ;  by  the  Mexican 
Government,  274-6  ;  works  consist  of, 
276  ;  works  completed,  279,  280  ;  im- 
portance to  the  City  of  Mexico,  280 


E 


Egypt,  compared  with  Mexico,  10,  n 
English  in  Mexico,  immediately  after  the 
independence,  nearly  all  disappeared, 

79 

Espinosa,  Don  Luis,  present  director  of 
tunnel  work,  275 

Expenses,  amount  of,  137,  138  ;  of  Fed- 
eral Government,  139-41  ;  of  custom- 
houses, 147 ;  of  internal  revenue,  148  ; 
of  direct  taxes,  149  ;  of  Mexican  States, 
151 ;  of  municipalities,  153  ;  of  Mexico 
in  the  year  1896-97,  245 

Exports,  from  1826-28,  155  ;  from  1877- 

96,  159  ;    by    countries   and   custom- 
houses from   1894-96,    1 60 ;   value   of 
metals  and   commodities   exported  in 
1895-96,    161  ;    of  commodities  from 
1886-96,  162  ;  of  agricultural  products 
from   1877-96,    164 ;    destination   and 
value  of  metals  and  commodities  from 
1882-92,  168,  169 ;  total  exports,  169 ; 
value  of  Mexican  exports  during  1872- 
73,    172 ;    from   Mexico    and    to    the 
United  States,  173  ;  of  domestic  mer- 
chandise to  Mexico  1858-83,    i78-*8o ; 
from  the  United  States  to  Mexico  1889- 

97,  182,   183;    articles  exported  from 
the    United    States    to    Mexico,    184, 
185 ;     tropical    products    supplied    by 
Mexico  to  the  United  States,  185,  186  ; 
cattle  exported  to  the  United  States, 
186  ;  of  precious  metals  and  minerals  in 


the  years  1879-80,  1889-90,  and  1894- 
95,  1 88 ;  of  silver,  of  silver  bullion, 
189 ;  of  silver  ore,  190  ;  of  gold, 
190,  191  ;  of  gold  from  Mexico  to  the 
United  States,  192  ;  of  Mexico  by 
countries  and  custom-houses  in  the  year 
1896-97,  246  ;  Mexican  exports  to  the 
United  States,  247 


F 


Financial  condition,  of  Mexico,  126,  137, 
138;  of  railroads,  119,  120,  195,  196; 
of  banks,  132  ;  of  States  and  municipal- 
ities,  154 

Fish,  71,  72 

Flora  in  Mexico,  products  raised,  42,  43  ; 
flowers  grown,  63,  64 

Foreign  immigration,  encouragement  to, 
125  ;  difference  of,  from  the  United 
States,  126,  127  ;  cost  of  labor,  127  ; 
warning  from  consular  reports,  127, 
128  ;  those  who  should  immigrate,  128 

Foreign  trade,  small  before  railroads 
built,  cost  of  transportation,  154; 
amount  of,  with  United  States,  170; 
why  difficult  to  have  correct  data  with 
United  States,  170,  171  ;  commercial 
transactions  between  Mexico  and  the 
United  States  from  1820-50,  173  ;  com- 
merce in  merchandise  between  the 
United  States  and  Mexico  from  1851- 
97,  174;  total  commerce  between  the 
United  States  and  Mexico  by  years  and 
decades  from  1851-97,  175  ;  increase 
of  trade  during  1896-97,  184;  between 
Mexico  and  the  United  States  during 
the  first  nine  months  of  1897,  247 

Forests,  37,  38  ;  destruction  of,  65,  66  ; 
in  Mississippi  Valley,  66 

Forey,  Marshall,  108 

Franciscan  monks,  work  done  by,  273 

French  in  Mexico,  own  large  dry-goods 
houses,  79 

Fuel,  23-5  ;  demand  for,  24 ;  consump- 
tion of,  64 


Garay,  Senor  Don  Francisco  de,  plan  for 
tunnel,  275 

Gelves,  Marquis  de,  his  orders  about 
tunnel,  271 

Geology,  rock  formations,  12  ;  rich  in 
ores,  12,  13 

Germans  in  Mexico,  succeeded  by  Eng- 
lish, and  are  doing  well,  79 

Gil,  Mr.  George,  British  Colonies,  6 

Ginger,  yield,  55 

Gold,  where  found  and  how  reduced,  14, 
19,  20 ;  amount  of  production,  ex- 
tract from  Mr.  Cramer,  20  ;  weight  and 
standard  value,  133  ;  production  of,  in 
years  1879-80,  1889-90,  and  1894-95, 
1 88  ;  accredited  to  Mexico,  192 


409 


Government  of  Mexico,  98,  99 
Grasses,  where  grown,  use,  56 
Guatemala,  boundary,  latitude,  length  of 

southern  boundary,  6  ;  cochineal  raised 

there,  53 
Guggenheim,  smelter,  23,  28,  29 

H 

Henequen,  where  grown,  average  pounds 

per  acre,  49 
Humboldt,  Baron  von,  reference  to,  13, 

15,  81,  104,  271 
Hydrography,  coast,  gulfs,  harbors,  bays, 

32;  islands,    33;   rivers  and  torrents, 

33,  34 


Imports,  from  1826-28,  155 ;  from  1872- 
75,  156  ;  from  1885-86  and  1888-90, 
157  ;  from  1892-96,  158  ;  by  countries 
from  1888-90,  by  custom-houses  from 
1894-96,  1 60 ;  values  of  metals  and 
commodities  from  1882-92,  165-7 ; 
resume  of  total,  167  ;  to  Mexico  and  to 
the  United  States,  172  ;  of  merchandise 
from  Mexico  from  1858-83,  176,  177  ; 
into  the  United  States,  181,  182  ;  lead- 
ing merchandise  imports  from  Mexico 
to  the  United  States,  184;  of  gold 
bullion,  ore,  and  coin  into  the  United 
States,  191 ;  of  Mexico  by  countries  and 
custom-houses  in  the  year  1896-97,246; 
from  the  United  States,  248 

Indians,  Mexican,  tribes,  72  ;  classifica- 
tion of  tribes,  73  ;  similar  to  Malay- 
Asiatic  races,  73,  74 ;  extract  from 
San  Francisco,  Cal. ,  Bulletin,  73  ;  char- 
acteristics, 74,  75 ;  prominent  men  among 
them,  marriages,  74 ;  education,  76, 
105  ;  strength,  78  ;  religion,  97  ;  Sir 
William  Kingston  on,  75 ;  originated 
work  on  canal,  267-9 

India-rubber,  places  best  adapted  for  it 
as  an  industry,  46,  47  ;  amount  of  pro- 
duction, 46 ;  profits  and  expense  of, 
47,  48 

Inhabitants,  most  thickly  inhabited  parts, 
37;  manner  of  living,  128;  aborigines, 
per  cent,  of,  72 

Inundations  of  the  City  of  Mexico,  used 
to  be  flooded  once  on  an  average  of 
every  twenty-five  years,  the  one  in  1580, 
in  1604,  269 ;  one  in  1607,  270  ;  one 
which  occurred  in  1629,  272  ;  decrease 
in,  since  Nochistongo  opening,  caused 
by  cutting  of  forests,  274 

Iron,  where  found,  21,  22,  25  ;  Cerro  del 
Mercado  mine,  quality,  21  ;  impor- 
tation of,  foundries,  22 

Irrigation,  but  little  at  present  in  Mexico, 
63  ;  scarcity  of  water,  64,  65  ;  cause  of 
decrease  in  rainfall,  good  investment, 
66  ;  reason  for  short  grain  supply,  70  ; 
Kazas  irrigation,  67-70 


Lakes,  number  of,  description  of,  268, 
269  ;  disappearance  of  Lake  Mexico, 
269  ;  Lake  Texcoco  filling  up,  lake  al- 
most disappeared,  274  ;  altitudes  of, 
275  ;  canal  crosses  Lake  Texcoco,  276 

Lamoreaux,  map  showing  cession  of  ter- 
ritory, 7 

Languages  in  Mexico,  varieties,  85,  86 ; 
Indian,  similar  to  Oriental,  74  ;  synop- 
sis of  Indian,  86-8 

Latitude,  of  Mexico,  5  ;  of  Guatemala, 
6 ;  of  silver  mines,  13 ;  of  City  of 
Mexico,  107 

Laws,  mining,  25-7  ;  lands,  124 ;  coloni- 
zation, 125,  126  ;  banking,  131 

Lead,  ores,  17,  18  ;  yield,  28,  29 

Lemons,  where  grown,  60 

Lempriere,  Notes  on  Mexico,  9 

Libraries  in  Mexico,  106 ;  names,  number 
of  volumes  and  students,  233-5 

Li  Hung  Chang  and  the  Mexican  silver 
mines,  18,  19 

Limes  and  shaddocks,  where  planted, 
variety,  61 

Longitude,  of  Mexico,  5  ;  of  silver  mines, 
13  ;  of  City  of  Mexico,  107 


Mamey,  use  of,  63 

Mangoes,  cultivated  taste,  transporta- 
tion of,  63 

Manufacturing,  factories  in  1893,  236  ; 
additional  establishments,  237 

Martinez,  Enrico,  his  plan  for  canal,  270; 
plan  inaugurated,  271  ;  plan  accepted 
in  1614,  271,  272  ;  scored  for  not  doing 
his  work  right,  272  ;  referred  to,  272-4  ; 
again  requested  to  carry  out  work, 
273 

Matthews,  Mr.  James  F.,  18 

Maximilian,  108  ;  downfall,  95 

Mendez,  Simon,  his  plan  for  canal,  273  ; 
reference  to,  275 

Mercado,  Gines  Vazquez  del,  Cerro  del,  21 

Mexico  as  a  Central  American  State, 
where  article  was  published,  249  ;  how 
article  originated,  249,  250  ;  geographi- 
cal situation  of  Mexico,  250  ;  five  States 
of  Central  America,  250  ;  States  of 
Mexico,  251  ;  geographical  extension  of 
Central  America,  251  ;  how  remarks 
were  received  by  a  Guatemalan  repre- 
sentative, 252 

Miller,  Mr.  Chas.,  18 

Mining,  richness  of  mines,  13  ;  miners, 
25  ;  Mexico  offers  great  advantages  in, 
128,  129 

Money,  weights  and  measures,  133,  134 

Monies  Claros,  Marquis  de,  reference  to, 
269 

Museum,  National,  103 


4io 


N 


Navigation,  number  of  vessels,  237  ;  ves- 
sels arrived  at  Mexican  ports  in  1895, 
238;  vessels  departed  from  Mexican 
ports  in  1895,  239;  foreign  passengers 
arrived  at  Mexican  ports  in  1895,  240  ; 
foreign  passengers  departed  from  Mex- 
ican ports  in  1895,  241  ;  resume  of 
vessels  and  passengers  arrived  and  de- 
parted by  rail  and  ports  in  1895,  242  ; 
vessels  arrived  and  departed  from  Mex- 
ican ports  in  1894-96,  243 

Navy,  strength  of,  100 

Netzahualcoyotl,  saw  the  necessity  for  a 
drainage  canal,  267  ;  one  of  the  dikes 
built  by,  268 

Newspapers,  106 

Noyes,  Theodore  W.,  Mexico  and  Egypt, 

10,  II 


Ophidians,  71 

Oranges,  where  and  how  raised,  irrigation, 
distillation,  59 ;  flavor,  yield  compared 
with  coffee,  Frederico  Atristain  re- 
ferred to,  the  cyclone  in  Florida,  60 

Orography,  mountains  and  plateaus,  29- 
32  ;  elevation  of  mountain  ranges,  31 


Papaya,  use,  63 

Patents,  number  of,  132 

Pearson,  S.,  &  Son,  contractors  for  canal, 
277 

Peat,  23,  24 

Peppermint, where  grown,  55 

Pineapples,  uses,  where  grown,  62 

Political  organizations  of  Mexico,  of 
Federal  Government,  98,  99 

Political  parties,  Church,  its  wealth,  93, 
94 ;  Liberal,  94 

Population  of  Mexico,  increase  of,  76,  77  ; 
decrease  of  Mexican  Indians,  77,  78  ; 
from  1795  to  1895,  89 ;  parts  most 
thickly  settled,  90;  of  United  Mexi- 
can States,  91 

Position  of  Mexico,  9 

Postal  service,  number  of  offices  and 
agencies,  123,  124  ;  mail  carried,  re- 
ceipts, 133  ;  post-offices  in  Mexico  in 
1895,  223  ;  earnings  and  expenditures 
of  post-offices  from  1869-96,  224 ; 
number  of  postal  pieces  transported 
from  1878-95,  225 

Prescott,  History  of  Conquest  of  Mexico, 
268 

Profiles,  MeAican,  from  Veracruz  to 
Mexico  by  the  Mexican  Railway,  from 
Apizaco  to  Puebla,  a  branch  of  the 
Mexican  Railway,  253  ;  from  Veracruz 
to  Mexico  by  the  Interoceanic  Railway, 


from  the  City  of  Mexico  to  Morelos 
by  a  branch  of  the  Interoceanic,  254  ; 
from  Puebla  to  Izucar  de  Matamoros,  a 
branch  of  the  Interoceanic,  255  ;  from 
the  City  of  Mexico  to  El  Paso  del 
Norte  by  the  Central  Mexican,  255-7  ; 
from  Aguascalientes  to  Tampico  by  the 
Mexican  Central,  257,  258  ;  from  Ira- 
puato  to  Guadalajara,  a  branch  of  the 
Mexican  Central,  258  ;  from  the  City 
of  Mexico  to  Laredo  Tamaulipas  by 
the  Mexican  National,  258-60 ;  from 
Acambaroto  Patzcuaro,  a  branch  of 
the  Mexican  National,  261  ;  from 
Piedras  Negras  to  Durango  by  the 
Mexican  International,  261,  262  ;  from 
Sabinas  to  Hondo,  a  branch  of  the 
Mexican  International,  262  ;  from  the 
City  of  Mexico  to  Cuernavaca  and 
Acapulco,  262,  263  ;  from  Puebla  to 
Oaxacabythe  Mexican  Southern,  263; 
from  Coatzacoalcos  to  Salina  Cruz  by 
the  National  Tehuantepec,  263,  264  ; 
from  the  City  of  Mexico  to  Pachuca  by 
the  Hidalgo  and  Northeastern  Railway, 
from  San  Augustin  to  Irolo,  a  branch 
of  the  Hidalgo  Railway,  264 ;  from 
Durango  to  Mazatlan  by  bridle  path, 
from  Manzanillo  to  Guadalajara  by 
wagon  road,  265  ;  from  Tehuacan  to 
Oaxaca  and  Puerto  Angel  by  wagon 
road,  266 

Publications  about  Mexico,  non-official, 
134  ;  newspapers,  228 

Public  lands,  granted  to  Indians  and 
Spaniards,  survey  of,  124  ;  division  of, 
124,  125  ;  price  of,  125  ;  titles  of,  227, 
228 

Pulque,  where  and  how  cultivated,  48, 
49  ;  fermentation  of,  expense  and  profit, 
50 ;  thorn  and  root  useful,  51 

Purpose  of  this  paper,  244 


Quicksilver,  production  of,  23 
R 

Railway  itineraries  (see  Profiles) 
Railways  in  Mexico,  history  of,  115,  116  ; 
extent,  116,  119;  President  Diaz's  policy 
on,  117,  118  ;  President  Diaz's  statistics 
on,  119;  financial  condition  of,  119- 
21  ;  length  of,  passengers  and  tons 
carried,  133  ;  mileage  in  operation 
October  31,  1896,  193-5  ;  resume  of, 
195  ;  Mexican  Central,  196,  197  ; 
Mexican  National,  196-8  ;  Mexican  In- 
ternational, 199,  200  ;  Mexican  South- 
ern, 200,  201 ;  Mexican  Railroad,  201  ; 
Interoceanic  Railway,  Sonora  Railway, 
Hidalgo  and  Northeastern  Railway, 
202  ;  Merida  and  Progreso  Railway, 
Tehuacan  and  Esperanza  Railway, 


Railways  in  Mexico — Continued. 

Me'rida  and  Peto  Railway,  203  ;  Sinaloa 

.  and  Durango  Railway,  Merida  and 
Campeche  Railway,  Merida  and  Valla- 
dolid  Railway,  204  ;  Tlalmanalco  Rail- 
way, San  Juan  Bautista  and  Carrizal 
Passenger  Railway,  San  Andres  and 
Chalchicomula  Railway,  205  ;  Orizaba 
and  Ingenio  Railway,  Santa  Ana  and 
Tlaxcala  Railway,  Cardenas  and  Rio 
Grijalva  Railway,  206 ;  Toluca  and 
San  Juan  de  las  Huertas  Railway,  Vane- 
gas,  Cedral,  Matehuala,  and  Rio  Verde 
Railway,  Merida  and  Izamal  Railway, 
San  Marcos  and  Nautla  Railway,  207  ; 
Monterey  and  Gulf  Railway,  Cordova 
and  Tuxtepec  Railway,  Maravatio  and 
Cuernavaca  Railway,  Salamanca  and 
Santiago  Valley  Railway,  208  ;  Monte 
Alto  Railway,  Valley  of  Mexico 
Railway,  Puebla  Industrial  Railway, 
Mexican  Northern  Railway,  Mexico, 
Cuernavaca,  and  Pacific  Railway,  209  ; 
Federal  District  Tramways,  Veracruz 
and  Alvarado  Railway,  210  ;  traffic  and 
receipts  of  Mexican  railroads,  211; 
subsidies  paid  by  Mexican  Government 
to  June  30,  1896,  212-20 

Read  &  Campbell,  Messrs.,  contractors 
of  tunnel,  276,  277 

Real  del  Monte,  15-17 

Religion  in  Mexico,  Catholic  clergy  and 
convents,  92,  93  ;  in  politics,  94 ; 
Catholics  of  to-day,  94,  95  ;  Protestant 
missionaries,  95-7;  Protestant  churches 
established  by  Mr.  Henry  C.  Riley, 
96  ;  statistics  on  Protestants,  97,  98 

Revenue,  increase,  137  ;  difficult  to  get 
data,  138  ;  statistics  of,  from  1808-67, 
139  ;  statistics  on,  from  1867-88,  140  ; 
statistics  on,  from  1888-96,  141  ;  Fed- 
eral appropriations  from  1868-95,  142  ; 
sources  of,  import  duties,  143  ;  addi- 
tional import  duties,  export  duties,  144 ; 
custom  receipts,  145,  146 ;  internal 
revenue,  146,  147  ;  direct  taxes,  148, 
149  ;  of  Mexican  States,  150  ;  of  mu- 
nicipalities, 152  ;  of  Mexico  in  the  year 
1896-97,  245 

Rice,  how  cultivated,  53 

Ruins  in  Mexico,  Uxmal,  80,  81  ;  Pa- 
lenque,  Cholula,  81  ;  Teotihuacan,  81- 
83  ;  Mitla,  83  ;  extract  from  Sir  Vivien 
Cory  on,  83-5 


Sanchez,  Father,  plan  for  tunnel,  270; 

plan  condemned.  271 
Sandy  Plains  of  Mexico,  12 
Sanitarium,  Mexico  as  a,  41,  42 
School  of  Engineering,  103 
School  of  Medicine,  102,  103 
Schools,  statistics  of,  105,  106  ;   public, 

229,  230  ;  private,  231,  232 


Sewage  of  the  City  of  Mexico,  danger  of, 
274  ;  description  of,  and  how  to  be 
effected,  279 

Sheep,  mistakes  made  in  raising,  58 

Shipping,  mercantile  marine,  vessels  in 
foreign  and  coasting  trade,  tons  car- 
ried, 133 

Silk  culture,  where  grown,  varieties,  52  ; 
how  sold,  53 

Silver,  yield,  and  where  found,  13,  14  ; 
system  of  reduction,  14  ;  history  of 
some  mines,  15,  16  ;  duties  on,  28  ; 
weight  and  standard  value,  133  ;  total 
coinage  of,  186 ;  total  production  of, 
coined  by  Mexican  mints  from  1535 
to  1895,  187  ;  production  of  in  the 
years  1879-80,  1889-90,  and  1894-95, 
188  ;  coined  and  exported  from  1874- 
96,  189 

Smelting  plants,  Mexican  Metallurgical 
Co.,  28  ;  National  Mexican  Smelter  at 
Monterey,  28,  29  ;  Central  Mexican 
Smelter,  Velardena  Mining  Co.,  The 
Chihuahua  Mining  Co.,  The  Mazapil 
Copper  Co.,  Limited,  Sabinal  Mining 
and  Smelting  Co.,  Chihuahua,  La 
Preciosa,  The  Boleo  Smelter,  29 

Smith,  Captain,  referred  to,  275 

Spaniards  in  Mexico,  characteristics,  78, 
79  ;  climate  check  on  growth,  little 
education,  79  ;  built  dike  for  canal,  269 

Starr,  Professor,  his  theory,  76 

States  of  Mexico,  classification  and  divi- 
sion, etc.,  90,  91 

Sugar-cane,  size,  places  best  adapted  for 
raising,  cost  of  raising,  45 

Switzerland,  compared  with  Mexico,  10 


Technical  schools,  at  the  present  time, 
103,  104  ;  reorganization  of,  104,  105 

Tejada,  Senor  Lerdo  de,  115 

Telegraphs,  number  of  different  com- 
panies, 121-3  ;  length  of,  133  ;  earn- 
ings and  expenditures  from  1869-96, 
224 

Telephones,  length  of,  133 

Terreros,  Don  Pedro  Jose  Romero  de,  15, 
109 

Texas,  annexation  of,  7 

Tobacco,  quality  of,  45,  46 

Topia,  new  mines,  17 

Trade-marks,  number  of,  132,  133 

Transportation,  of  money,  131  ;  cost  of, 
railroads  have  revolutionized,  154,  155  ; 
of  mangoes,  63  ;  of  postal  pieces,  225 

Treaties,  Guadalupe-Hidalgo,  Gadsden, 
one  signed  at  Washington  between 
the  United  States  and  Texas,  7,  8 

Tunnel,  originated,  270,  271  ;  blocked 
up,  272 ;  work  carried  on  in  1614, 
closed,  271  ;  opened  out,  272  ;  earth- 
quake destroyed  it  in  1637 ;  condi- 
tion of  old  tunnel  now,  273  ;  dangers 


412 


Tunnel —  Continued. 

in  building,  273,  274  ;  location  of,  275  ; 
contract  for,  size,  276,  277  ;  discharged, 
managed  by,  277  ;  length  of,  280 


Valley  of  Mexico,  its  development,  106, 
107  ;  topographical  conditions,  267 

Van  Boot,  Adrian,  sent  to  make  a  report, 
his  plan,  271 

Vanilla,  where  grown,  production,  varie- 
ties, etc.,  52  ;  how  sold,  53 

Vegetation,  36 

Velasco,  Viceroy  Don  Luis  de,  271 


W 


Wages,  advantages  of  foreign  labor,  48  ; 
prevents  immigration  to  Mexico  of 
poor  people,  126-9 


Warner,  Charles  Dudley,  Mexico  com- 
pared with  other  countries,  10  ;  climate 
of  Mexico,  42,  43  ;  on  church  edifices, 
92,93 

Water,  Mr.  J.  A.,  Pinos  Altos  Gold 
Mine,  14 

Winds,  38 

Woods,  cabinet  and  dye,  where  grown, 
some  of  the  species,  43,  44,  55 


Yuca,  when  and  where  grown,  54  ;  yield 

55 
Yucatan,  configuration,  civilization,  9 


Zapote,  use,  63 

Zones,  products  of  cold,  temperate,  and 
hot,  58 


INDEX  TO  ARTICLES  ON  COFFEE  AND 
INDIA-RUBBER  CULTURE. 


Age  of  coffee-tree,  some  think  duration 

depends  on  shade,  342 
Altitude,  of  various  places  in  Soconusco, 

297  ;  its  effect  on  climate,   15,000  ft. 

snow  line  in  Soconusco,  362 
Asiatic  rubber-tree,    grows   larger    than 

American,  378 
Aublet,  his  botanical  name  for  rubber,  378 


B 


Bearing,  trees  25  and  30  years,  342 

Blossoming  (white)  of  coffee-tree,  time 
of,  343 

Bond,  Mr.  James  B.,  extract  from  com- 
munication to  State  Department  giving 
information  about  rubber,  384  ;  letters 
from  him  in  reference  to  rubber  in 
Brazil,  396-398 

Botanical  names  of  rubber-tree,  378 


Chacon,  Sr.  Don  Jose  Maria,  owner  of 
Zanjon  Seco  rubber  plantation,  384 ; 
opinion  about  the  way  to  plant  rubber 
cuttings,  387  ;  his  opinion  about  rubber 
planted  in  Soconusco,  388 

Chardwar,  rubber,  number  of  large  trees 
in,  near  Ferozpoor,  sap  of  Ficus elastica 
better  in  old  trees  than  in  young,  yield 

of,  399 

Cheapness  of  coffee-raising,  287  ;  made 
cheaper  by  raising  sugar-cane  at  the 
same  time,  288 

Clavijero,  Father,  his  description  of 
Mexican  rubber-trees,  379 

Clearing  ground  for  rubber,  should  be 
done  first,  386 

Climate,  Soconusco  suitable  for  coffee- 
raising,  286,  295  ;  coffee  affected  by 
humidity,  298  ;  affected  by  sun,  latitude, 


and  altitude,  362  ;  location  of  mountain 
chains,  362,  363  ;  distance  from  sea, 
inclination  of  country  to  course  of  sun, 
geology  of  soil,  degree  of  cultivation 
of  soil,  363  ;  winds,  363,  364  ;  amount 
of  rainfall,  364 ;  hot  country  best  for 
rubber,  385 

Coffee-raising  in  Soconusco,  compared 
with  other  countries,  286,  287  ;  com- 
pared with  Ceylon,  357-359 

Coffee  sent  to  market  in  casks  and  bar- 
rels, 350 

Color  of  coffee,  bluish  color  which  after- 
wards changes  to  grayish  green,  350 

Condamine,  M.  de  la,  his  description  of 
rubber-trees  on  banks  of  Amazon,  378  ; 
extraction  of  rubber,  380 

Corn,  custom  in  Soconusco  to  plant  at 
same  time  with  coffee  but  not  best  to 
doit,  314 

Cost  of  coffee  in  Barcenas,  nursery  and 
seed,  stakes  and  holes,  preparation  of 
the  soil,  transplanting,  weedings,  other 
expenses,  354;  of  each  cuerda,  355 

Cost  of  coffee  plantation  in  Ceylon,  ist 
year,  355,  356  ;  2d  year,  356  ;  3d  year, 
356,  357;  total  cost  and  loss,  357 

Cost  of  coffee  plantation  in  Soconusco,  of 
ground,  ist  year,  351  ;  2d,  3d,  and  4th 
years,  resume  of,  352 

Cost  of  coffee-raising  in  Soconusco,  as 
compared  with  Ceylon,  333 

Cost,  of  rubber  plantation,  of  10,000  trees 
at  distance  of  3  yards,  393  ;  distance  of  5 
yards,  estimate  of  10,000  trees  at  3  yards, 
4  yards,  and  5  yards,  of  each  tree  during 
6  years,  394 ;  of  100,000  trees  at  a  dis- 
tance of  3,  4  and  5  yards,  yield  after  6 
years,  395 

Cost  of  sugar-cane  plantation,  288,  289 

Cuerda,  number  of  coffee  plants  to  the, 
303,  304 

Cultivation  of  soil,  affects  climate,  re- 
claiming of  marshy  land  makes  temper- 
ature warmer,  363 


413 


414 


Demand  for  rubber,  has  increased,  in 
Para  and  other  regions,  wild  trees  have 
been  destroyed,  price  increased,  374  ; 
is  increasing,  likely  to  supersede  iron, 
38i 

Digging  holes  for  staking  for  coffee,  time 
for  317  ;  manner  of,  size  in  Soconusco, 
in  Ceylon,  planting  without,  318 

Discovery  of  rubber-tree,  verylittleknown 
of,  French  astronomers  first  to  call 
attention  to  it,  379 

Distance  between  coffee  plants,  difference 
of  opinion  regarding,  302  ;  general 
practice  of,  what  it  depends  on,  303  ; 
area  of  each  tree,  314  ;  advantages  of 
long,  advantages  of  short,  305  ;  rules 
regarding,  305,  306 

Distance  between  rubber-trees,  very 
important,  makes  difference  in  yield  in 
proportion  to  distance  apart,  389 

Drainage,  how  it  should  be  made,  method 
in  Ceylon,  Mr.  Sabonadiere  on,  335 

Drying  coffee  beans  in  Guatemala,  put 
on  threshing  floor  and  exposed  to  sun, 
should  not  be  piled  up,  time  required 
for,  346;  stoves  invented  for  but  not 
used,  347 

Drying  coffee  in  Ceylon,  heaped  upon 
inclined  platform  to  drain  and  then 
spread  out  to  dry  in  sun,  good,  inferior 
and  waste  coffee  dried  apart,  349  ;  bean 
dried,  350 

Dyeing  coffee  in  Guatemala,  bluish  color 
desirable  in  Soconusco  markets,  how 
color  is  given,  347 


E 


Encyclopedia  Britannica  on  india-rubber, 

377 
Enemies  to  coffee-tree,  many  in  Ceylon, 

336  ;  grubs,  coffee  bug,  ants  in  Ceylon, 

337  ;  ants  in  Soconusco  and  Guatemala, 
337 

Escobar,  Don  Sebastian,  experiment 
made  with  transplanting  rubber- trees, 
386, 387  ;  estimate  of  cost  of  rubber 
plantation  by,  393 

Esmeralda,  large  rubber  plantation  on 
southern  coast  of  Oaxaca,  374 

Evaporation,  loss  of  rubber,  382 

Export  of  india-rubber,  from  United 
States,  manufactured  and  crude,  in  1856 
and  1857,  from  Para  in  1856  and  1869, 
400  ;  from  Para  from  1851  to  1870,  401 

Extraction  of  rubber,  by  making  incision 
in  bark,  exposed  to  sun  or  fire,  water 
evaporates  and  leaves  rubber,  exposed 
to  air  it  becomes  dark,  379  ;  method  in 
Soconusco  ruinous  to  trees,  to  extract 
properly  a  more  adequate  instrument 
than  machete  and  something  better  than 


leaves  or  clay  for  receptacle  are  re- 
quired, 392  ;  rules  in  regard  to,  incision 
should  be  healed,  393 


Faraday,  Prof.,  analysis  of  rubber,  380, 
382 

Felling  trees,  best  season  for,  to  prepare 
coffee  plantation,  313 

Ferguson,  A.  M.  and  J.,  india-rubber  and 
gutta-percha,  375 

Fertilizer  for  coffee,  necessity  for,  and 
advantage  of,  used  in  Soconusco,  used 
in  Ceylon,  338  ;  substances  used,  339, 
340 ;  manner  of  applying,  340,  341  ; 
when  to  use,  cost  of,  341 

Ficus  elastica  inferior  to  American  rub- 
ber, 399 

Finck,  Hugo,  his  opinion  in  regard  to 
shade,  in  regard  to  coffee-trees,  368 

Forests,  destruction  of,  may  be  fatal  to  a 
region,  363 

Frisman,  found  rubber-trees  in  1751,  379 

Fruit  of  coffee-tree,  time  of  crop,  time 
of  second  crop,  4th  year  after  trans- 
planting best  crop,  342 ;  size,  color, 
when  it  should  be  picked,  343 

Future  of  india-rubber,  very  great,  373  ; 
large  profits,  safe  industry,  402 


Gauffrau,  Dr.,  rubber  plantation  in  Nica- 
ragua, 385 

Geological  character  of  soil,  how  it  affects 
climate,  363 

Goodyear,  Mr.  Charles,  inventor  of  vul- 
canized rubber,  380 

Griffith,  Mr.  William,  report  on  Asiatic 
rubber  in  district  of  Chardwar,  399 

Guatemala,  coffee-raising  of  to-day  and 
twenty  years  ago,  283,  284 ;  price  of 
land  compared  with  land  in  Mexico, 
284  ;  coffee  culture  in,  284  ;  labor  in, 
290 


H 


Hardiness  of  rubber-tree,  simplifies  cul- 
ture, 389 

Harriman,  F.  O.,  letter  to  India-Rubber 
World,  recommending  Tehuantepec 
lands  for  coffee-raising,  360 ;  Mr.  Ro- 
mero writes  to  editor  of  India-Rubber 
World  in  which  letter  he  refers  to  and 
criticises  Mr.  F.  O.  Harriman's  article, 
364,  365  ;  letter  of,  365,  366  ;  Mr.  Ro- 
mero answers  letter  of,  367 

Harriman,  J.  P.,  letter  in  answer  to  Mr. 
Romero's  of  September  25,  1893,  360 

Hatillo,  rubber  plantation  at,  385 


flnfcej. 


415 


Importance  of  india-rubber  culture  in 
the  future  of  Mexico,  373  ;  extracts  of 
the  same  published  in  India-Rubber 
World  of  New  York  of  April  15,  1893, 
374 

Importation  of  rubber,  manufactured  and 
crude,  in  the  United  States  in  1856  and 
1857,  from  England  in  1857  and  1858, 
400 

Inclination  of  country  to  course  of  sun, 
affects  climate,  363 

India-rubber  tree,  difference  between 
large  and  small  trees,  size  and  shape 
of  leaf,  shape  of  tree,  bark,  379 

Irrigating,  indispensable  in  dry  places, 
336 


Jacquieu,   his    botanical    name   for    the 
india-rubber  tree,  378 


K 


King,  Mr.  William,  his  views  on  coffee 
fertilizers,  340 


Labor,  required  in  cultivating  rubber,  386 

Laborers  in  Soconusco,  scarcity  of,  287, 
289  ;  regulated  by  price  paid  in  Guate- 
mala, 287  ;  debts  of,  289  ;  Indians  as, 
290 

Laborie,  system  of  transplanting,  316  ; 
his  method  compared  with  Sabonadi- 
ere's,  317  ;  system  of  pruning,  329, 
330 ;  pulping  machines  have  been  in 
use  since  time  of,  345 

Latitude  determines  temperature  of 
locality,  362 

Letters,  from  Mr.  Romero  to  editor  of 
India-Rubber  World  of  New  York 
criticising  Mr.  F.  O.  Harriman's  article 
on  rubber  growing  in  Tehuantepec 
lands,  364,  365  ;  from  F.  O.  Harriman 
in  answer  to  Mr.  Romero's  on  the 
question  of  shade,  365,  366  ;  inCoatza- 
coalcos  Valley,  it  is  an  experiment, 
366  ;  from  J.  P.  Harriman  to  editor 
of  India-Rubber  World  of  February 
15,  1894,  in  answer  to  Mr.  Romero's 
letter  in  which  he  states  that  Tehuan- 
tepec is  well  suited  to  coffee,  gives  the 
yield  of  trees,  367  ;  an  answer  from 
Mr.  Romero  to  editor  of  India-Rubber 
World  published  in  their  issue  of 
February  15,  1894,  in  answer  to  letters 
of  F.  O.  and  J.  P.  Harriman  in  which 
he  states  why  it  was  written,  speaks  of 
temperature  of  different  regions  and 
effects  on  coffee,  368  ;  advice  to  Mr. 


F.  O.  Harriman,  denies  high  lands  are 
good  for  coffee,  369  ;  from  Mr.  Romero 
dated  at  Tapachula,  Soconusco,  Sep- 
tember 26, 1872,  to  Mr.  James  R.  Bond 
asking  about  the  culture  of  india-rubber, 
396  ;  from  Mr.  James  R.  Bond  dated 
at  New  York  October  22,  1872,  in 
answer  to  Mr.  Romero's  questions 
about  rubber,  396-398 
Lindley,  John,  Treasury  of  Botany,  378 
Linnaeus,  his  botanical  name  for  india- 
rubber,  378 


M 


Manchinelli,  Mr.  Jeronimo,  description  of 
rubber-trees  on  his  San  Carlos  farm, 
379  ;  size  of  his  trees,  389 

Memoirs  of  the  Academy  of  Sciences,  ex- 
periments for  utilizing  rubber,  379 

Mexican  Agricultural  Dictionary  and 
Rural  Economy,  rules  given  for  im- 
proving quality  of  coffee  seed,  310 

Mountain  chains,  location  of,  affects 
climate,  362,  363 


N 


Nelson,  Mr.  William,  his  rubber  planta- 
tion in  Guatemala,  384 

New  American  Encyclopedia,  articles  on 
rubber,  377 

Norris,  Mr.  Lee,  his  way  of  keeping  rub- 
ber in  milky  form,  380 

Nursery  for  coffee  in  Ceylon,  place  chosen 
for,  how  coffee  is  planted,  drainage, 
312  ;  when  and  how  to  transplant,  312, 
313 

Nursery  for  coffee  in  Soconusco,  definition 
of,  advantages  of,  307  ;  land  suitable  for 
and  location  of,  307,  308  ;  formed  from 
seeds,  308  ;  preparation  of  ground  for, 
time  for  planting,  309 ;  replanting,  how 
to  make  it,  310 


Paper  on  coffee,  299,  300 ;  inducements 

for  writing,  283 
Persoon,  his  botanical  name  for  rubber, 

378 
Picking  coffee  in  Ceylon,  how  effected, 

344 
Picking  coffee  in  Soconusco,  how  done, 

price  paid  for,  343  ;  very  costly,  344 
Plan  of  coffee  plantation,  how  made,  314 
Plantations  in  Soconusco,  where  situated, 

359 
Planting  rubber-trees,  how  done,  386  ;  an 

economical  way  of,  387 
Plants  for  selling,  nursery  for,  profitable 

industry  to  supply,  312 
Preparation  of  coffee  in  Ceylon,  348 
Preparation  of  coffee  in  Colima  and  So- 


416 


conusco,  348  ;  primitive  method  em- 
ployed in  Soconusco,  345 

Prevailing  winds,  great  influence  of,  on 
climate,  364 

Price  of  coffee,  in  Soconusco,  profit,  285 

Price  of  coffee  plants,  in  Guatemala,  in 
Soconusco,  312 

Price  of  rubber,  381  ;  quadrupled  in  So- 
conusco in  the  last  ten  years,  381,  382 

Priestly,  Dr. ,  Prospective,  379 

Productiveness  of  coffee  in  Barcenas, 
yield  3d  year,  4th  year,  354 

Productiveness  of  coffee  in  Soconusco, 
yield,  net  profit,  353 

Profits  of  coffee  culture,  extensive  lands 
in  Mexico  suitable  for  coffee  which  will 
make  the  fortune  of  those  engaged  in 
it,  360 

Profits  of  coffee  culture  in  Barcenas,  pro- 
ceeds, cost,  profit  a  year,  354 

Profits  of  coffee  culture  in  Soconusco, 
yield  in  3d,  4th,  and  5th  years,  net 
profit,  353 

Profits  of  rubber,  estimates  of,  382,  383  ; 
yield  of  trees  annually,  383 

Pruning  coffee  plants,  time  for,  311,  333; 
root  of  plant  in  transplanting,  321  ; 
rules  of,  326 ;  principles  of,  326,  327  ; 
advantages  of,  327,  328  ;  topping  sys- 
tem used  in  Soconusco,  height  of  in  So- 
conusco, Guatemala,  and  Ceylon,  328; 
system  used  in  Soconusco,  difficulties 
of,  rules  for,  329  ;  system  of  Laborie, 
329,  330,  332,  333  ;  system  of  Sabona- 
diere,  330,  331  ;  system  of  practical 
cultivator  of  Ceylon,  331  ;  system  of  the 
Observer  of  Colombo,  331,  332 

Pulping  coffee  in  Ceylon,  how  done,  349; 

Pulping  coffee  in  Guatemala,  how  done, 
345 


Rainfall,  amount  of,  affects  climate,  364  ; 
Replanting  coffee-trees,    how  done  and 

where  necessary,  325 
Retrilla,  used  for  shelling  coffee,  347 
Ridges  for  coffee  plants,  system  sometimes 

used  in  Ceylon,  336 
Ripening  of  coffee,   time   required  for, 

343 
Roads  for  coffee  plantations,  how  made, 

in  Ceylon,  334  ;  cost  of,  335 
Rubber  culture,  lack  of  information  on, 

377 


Sabonadiere,  Mr.  William,  his  Coffee 
Planter  in  Ceylon,  292  ;  transplanting 
coffee,  316,  317  ;  pruning  coffee  plants, 
33O,  331  ;  making  roads  for  coffee 
plantations,  324  ;  on  drainage,  335  ;  on 


fertilizers,  337  ;  on  cost  of  manuring  in 
Ceylon,  341  ;  his  opinion  of  pulping 
machines,  345,  346  ;  estimate  of  cost  of 
plantation  by,  355,  356,  357  ;  estimate 
of  cost  of  coffee  by,  357,  358,  359 

Samayoa,  Mr.  Jose  Maria,  his  plantation, 
354 

Screber,  his  botanical  name  for  rubber, 
378 

Sea,  proximity  to,  advantageous  to  raising 
of  coffee,  287,  288  ;  productiveness  at 
high  altitude  above  level  of,  most 
suited  to  coffee-raising,  296,  297 

Seed-plot,  plan  of ,  combination  of  nursery, 
380 

Seeds,  best  state  to  plant,  309  ;  should  be 
put  in  water,  sowing,  310 

Separating  good  from  bad  coffee  in 
Guatemala,  346 

Shade  for  coffee,  advantages  of,  300,  301, 
302  ;  disadvantages  of,  301,  302  ;  some 
think  durability  of  coffee-trees  in  Cey- 
lon depend  on,  342 

Shade  for  rubber,  whether  required,  388 

Sites  for  plantations,  character  of  ground 
suitable  for,  299 

Slips  of  coffee  plants,  nursery  formed 
from,  311 

Soil  for  coffee- raising,  Guatemala  suit- 
able, 284  ;  Soconusco  suitable,  284- 
286  ;  clayey  sub-soil  best,  291  ;  dif- 
ferent opinions  on,  291,  292  ;  layer 
of  vegetable  soil  indispensable,  slopes 
of  volcanoes  best  as,  292  ;  comparison 
of  virgin  forest  land,  and  land  recently 
cleared  as,  292,  293 ;  comparison  of 
level  and  hilly  soil  as,  294,  295 

Soil  for  rubber,  in  Soconusco,  selection 
of,  386  ;  Soconusco  good  for  rubber, 
387,  388 

Sorting  coffee  in  Ceylon,  how  performed, 
350 

Sorting  coffee  in  Guatemala,  performed 
by  hand,  classes  of  coffee,  348 

Special  Consular  Report,  1892,  on  rubber 
culture  in  Brazil,  India,  and  Africa, 
374,  375  I  confirms  points  laid  down 
here,  375 

Specific  gravity  of  rubber,  3/9,  380 

Staking  for  coffee,  necessary,  time  for, 
operation  of,  315  ;  work  of  the  men, 
315,  316  ;  in  Ceylon,  316 

Sun,  effect  on  coffee-tree,  297  ;  effect  on 
climate,  361,  362 

Supply  of  coffee  for  United  States, 
Mexico  destined  to  become  chief  source 
of,  285 

Supply  of  rubber,  diminishing,  381 


Taylor,  Mr.,  his  opinion  as  to  shade  for 
coffee-trees,  368  ;  Coffee  Growing  in 
Mexico,  365 


417 


Tehuan tepee,  Mr.  F.  O.  Harriman  rec- 
ommends lands  of  as  good  for  coffee 
and  india-rubber  culture,  361  ;  Mr.  Ro- 
mero answers  Mr.  F.  O.  Harriman's 
letter  about  coffee  and  india-rubber, 
364  ;  Mr.  F.  O.  Harriman  thinks  coffee 
wherever  planted  in  Isthmus  of,  needs 
shade,  365  ;  in  Isthmus  of,  coffee-rais- 
ing is  no  new  experiment,  366 

Time  required  by  rubber-tree  to  yield, 

39°.. 391 

Transplanting  coffee  plants,  time  in  So- 
conusco,  time  in  Ceylon,  time  in  Guate- 
mala, 311  ;  number  of  ways  of,  318; 
time  for,  manner  of,  319,  320,  321, 
322  ;  in  slips,  in  Ceylon,  322,  323 

Transplanting  rubber-trees,  not  necessary 
to  plant  in  nursery,  386 

Transportation  of  coffee,  Soconusco  near 
to  sea,  287,  288  ;  new  roads  needed  for, 
288 ;  in  large  plantations  cart  roads  have 
to  be  constructed,  243  ;  in  Ceylon, 
from  trees  to  where  it  is  prepared  for 
market,  344 

Trenches  for  draining  coffee  plantations, 
system  used  in  Ceylon  of  making,  335, 
336 ;  methods  of  and  cost  of  making, 
336 

Trunk  of  rubber-trees  in  Soconusco, 
spongy  white  wood  with  large  pores, 
379 


U 


United  Rubber  Co.,  recommends  sap  to 
be  bottled,  best  method  of  treatment 
according  to,  399 

Ure,  Dr.,  analysis  of  rubber,  380,  382  ; 
his  opinion  of  Asiatic  rubber,  386  ; 
thinks  fifty-six  per  cent  of  rubber  after 
incision  is  made  evaporates,  392  ;  on 
rubber  in  Assam,  398 


Uses  of  coffee,  285 


W 


Washing  coffee  in  Ceylon,  how  done,  349 
Washing  coffee  in  Guatemala,  how  done, 

346 
Water,   coffee  should  be  planted   near, 

irrigation  for  coffee,  299 
Weeding  coffee  plants,   why  necessary, 

323,  324  ;  method  in  Ceylon,  324  ;  man- 
ner of,  number  to  be  made  during  year, 

324,  325 

Weeding  rubber-trees,  390 

Weitch,  Lieutenant,  discovered  abun- 
dance of  ficus  elastica  in  district  of 
Naudwoor,  399 

Where  most  rubber-trees  are  found,  385 

Wildenow,  his  botanical  name  for  rubber- 
tree,  378 

Wild  rubber-trees,  thus  far  rubber  has 
been  extracted  entirely  from,  384 ; 
found  in  forests,  388 

Winds,  plants  should  be  sheltered  from, 
for  coffee-raising,  298 


Yield  of  coffee,   each  cuerda,   304 ;  of 

trees,  342 
Yield  of  rubber  per  tree,  391 ;  loss  in 

evaporation,  392 
Young  coffee  plants,   time  for  stiirting 

nursery  of,  how  to  be  planted,  311 


Zuchiate  Rubber  Plantation,  where  lo- 
cated, size,  number  of  trees,  etc.,  373, 
374 


14  DAY  USE 

RETURN  TO  DESK  FROM  WHICH  BORROWED 

LOAN  DEPT. 

This  book  is  due  on  the  last  date  stamped  below,  or 

on  the  date  to  which  renewed. 
Renewed  books  are  subject  to  immediate  recall. 

r>  **«-»»»-» 


JUL2V67-5PM 


' 


DEPT, 


•JAN  6     195 


EEh 


10May'59BB 
REC'D  LI 


,' 


jutu  lasfM  2 ] 'ss  "ft  PM 


LOAN 


»* 


LD 


JU124I96794 


LD  21-100m-6,'56 
(B9311slO)476 


General  Library 

University  of  California 

Berkeley 


RETURN  TO  the  circulation  desk  of  any 
University  of  California  Library 

or  to  the 

NORTHERN  REGIONAL  LIBRARY  FACILITY 
Bldg.  400,  Richmond  Field  Station 
University  of  California 
Richmond,  CA  94804-4698 

ALL  BOOKS  MAY  BE  RECALLED  AFTER  7  DAYS 

•  2-month  loans  may  be  renewed  by  calling 
(510)642-6753 

•  1-year  loans  may  be  recharged  by  bringing 
books  to  NRLF 

•  Renewals  and  recharges  may  be  made  4 
days  prior  to  due  date. 

DUE  AS  STAMPED  BELOW 


1  3  2001 


FEB  0  8  2007 


12,000(11/95) 


